The Rebellion
by DarkenedMoonAngel
Summary: 20 years after the War between the Valcors and Romulens ends a new enemy emerges and threatens the peace in the underworld. Now Serena and Darien are drawn back into the world that they left behind and must fight to protect what so many died to create...
1. Prologue

Twenty years after the War between the Valcors and Romulens ends, a new enemy emerges and threatens the peace in the underworld. After a devastating loss Serena and Darien are drawn back into the world that they had previously left behind and are forced to once again take up arms to protect their families, their people and the ones they love.

Due to the overwhelming passion that many of you have expressed I have decided that I will continue the War, I have decided the timeline for it and though I will continue to write for INTSOTN I will also update this story as well. I am very glad that many of you are interested in this story and my other works as well. I thank you all so much for your support and love, it's all for you...

I do not own sailor moon or it's characters.

* * *

Carlisle sat behind a large oak desk, shuffling through a stack of papers when a ding from his computer caught his attention. He moved the mouse to his computer, then clicked on the small blinking light. A window popped up, and the wireless connection began.

The image cleared and Cole's face was staring back at him, "Carlisle."

"How are you Cole?" Carlisle asked.

"I'm well, have you gotten the report that I sent?"

"I did, I'm looking it all over right now and making a few notes to bring to the council meeting next week, there are several issues that I think that we should discuss," Carlisle said.

"I think we'll probably raise some of the similar issues. On another note Ami called me this morning she wanted me to update you on the attacks that happened the other night," Cole told him.

"I've heard a few rumors, two Vampire groups were attacked?"

"Yes, seven of our coven members were brutally murdered," Cole told him.

"Are there any suspects?" Carlisle asked him looking down at the copy of the case file that he had been sent.

"No one stands out, but we believe this is the act of a radical group."

"Radical group?"

Cole nodded, "I'm sending you our files now. We've had several issues with a new radical group led by humans, it seems that they are strongly opposed to our existence."

As soon as Cole was finished talking several pictures downloaded onto Carlisle's desktop. "Humans have always been opposed to our existence," Carlisle said.

"True, but apparently there is a new human leader leading them, he's been calling for a more aggressive campaign against the Vampire community."

"Sounds like trouble, who is he?" Carlisle asked.

"The information that we've gathered is preliminary but from what we can tell he's…"

Suddenly the entire mansion went black and all electronic devices suddenly cut out. Carlisle waited a few moments for the backup generators to kick on and right everything , but after waiting for several minutes there was still no power. Carlisle stood from his desk, something had to be seriously wrong for the generators to have failed. Carlisle took his gun from the draw in front of him. He didn't bother to open any windows, or try to find a flashlight his vision was perfect even in the dark. He opened the door to the hallway where several soldiers stood and were trying to establish communication on their radios. "Don't bother," he told them "the signals being blocked."

Carlisle turned and saw Heracles walking towards him a grim look upon his face. "Sir, we've lost all contact with the perimeter."

"Something's blocked the signals, it's probably because the towers are down," Carlisle said.

"No sir, we haven't had any contact with them for almost twenty minutes."

Carlisle looked out of the large window to his left, the grounds were dark and though he had perfect vision the trees and brushes blocking his view and cast too many shadows. Despite the shadows he could see movement. "We need to get a team down to the entrance, someone's breached the perimeter."

Heracles pointed at two men who were standing in the hallway, he barked a couple of orders at them, they turned and ran down the hall. Carlisle didn't listen to what Heracles had begun to say, he was to focused on the figures moving across the lawn. He suddenly saw a bright flash followed by several more quick flashes, "Get down!" he yelled as something crashed through the window.

Carlisle looked at the thing that had landed almost directly next to him, "Everybody move!" he yelled suddenly as he heard the long cylinder began to arm its self. There was a sudden blast of silent light.

* * *

Six miles away in the small village at the base of the mountain, villagers talked about how one late night, in the middle of spring, a star exploded on the mountain.

The War between Vampires was over, but the War between Humans and Vampires had begun.


	2. Chapter 1

I do not own sailor moon or it's characters

Revised...hope you like it guys!

* * *

Elevator doors opened to an office in chaos, people ran around the brightly lit room, some on the phone, several yelling across the room to others, many ran around tripping over each frantically.

Rei stepped out of the elevator and was almost instantly run down by a man running across the room, "Have we established contact with the coven in Italy yet?" he yelled as he passed.

Cautiously Rei entered the room trying to stay out of people's way as they ran around scared/ A few stopped to acknowledge her presence and gave her a slight bow, but most were too panicked to notice her. "Rei!" said a voice from behind her. She turned to see Ami walking towards her, the other woman's face was full of resolve and her pace was quick. As she passed Rei began to walk with her.

"What happened?" Rei asked.

"Over the last few hours we've lost contact with several of our major outposts around the world," Ami told her. They passed through the chaos trying to stay on their course. "From what we can tell our Istanbul outpost has been completely destroyed, the troops arrived about forty minutes ago to find rubble."

"And the men there?"

"No word, but from the initial reports we don't think there were any survivors from that site," Ami told her as they ascended a metal staircase and headed to the second floor.

"What other posts have been attacked?"

"Our site in Northern Italy, one in Malaysia, two in the UK, and one in Egypt," Ami said. They stopped in front of two large doors, Ami pressed her hand to an identity scanner and typed in a pass code.

"That's a pretty significant organized attack," said Rei.

"That's just today, you haven't been given the whole report yet," Ami told her she turned and looked at her before opening the door.

"Ami what's happened?"

She said nothing, but her face fell as she opened the door. They walked into a large elongated room that was just as chaotic as the one they had just left, this room however was darkened and on every wall there were several monitors. There were numerous individual cubicles around the room, each had a person sitting at a computer with a headset on, each talking in a different languages and typing furiously. Rei glanced around the room and saw a few people she recognized. Then her eyes landed on Cole, he dismissed the young Vampire girl he was talking to and walked over to her and Ami.

"Rei," he said with a nod, she nodded back her greeting.

"Has anything new information come forth yet?" asked Ami.

"Not from Istanbul, but from Egypt yes, we just received these images from the ground teams," he said. He led them further into the long room passing people and monitors as they walked, the trio stopped at one computer station, Cole leaned down and whispered to the young woman who was sitting at the counsel. She nodded and type several keys, her small screen grew to cover the other two next to her giving them a panoramic view of what was happening.

Fire, rubble, and sand was most of what Rei saw on the screens. She noted that there were several men running in and out of the frame trying to put out flames and search for bodies, while some secured the perimeter.

"Who is in the field in Egypt," asked Rei.

Cole exchanged glances with Ami, then said "Malachite."

"Malachite," Rei repeated. "Why is he there with our teams?"

"Malachite's been working for us over the past several months, we knew that it would create a stir amongst the other generals as well as within the coven so we kept it quiet," Ami told her.

"Does Darien know about this?" Ami and Cole exchanged glances again. Rei turned to them "Have the Queen and King even been informed of the present situation?"

"We've been in contact with Darien since last week," Cole said.

"Last week? What happened last week?"

"Last week our coven in Miami and our coven in Mexico City were both attacked," Ami told her. "We know it's the same group, all of them have the same type of bomb."

"A bomb," Rei repeated.

"Jadeite and Zoicite have analyzed the debris, and the footage from the first two attacks. From what we have concluded is that it's a new type of bomb, it sends out a pulse before it explodes. The initial pulse blinds Vampires using low level ultraviolet light, and then the initial explosion does the same but on a massive scale," said Ami.

Rei stared at the two of them, "So you're telling me that whoever is doing this has created a bomb designed to kill vampires?"

"Not just kill, this bomb eradicates them," said Cole. "They are first killed with the Ultraviolet rays, then burned with the blast of the bomb."

Rei looked at the two of them "Why have the other members of the council not been made aware of this?"

Ami glanced at Cole then spoke, "We didn't think that informing everyone would be necessary until we had put together all the pieces."

"That was not a decision for the two of you to make, we all should have been informed of the situation and then made a decision as a council," Rei's her voice full of anger. She stared at her two friends, despite their intentions their actions could have put them in danger.

"We were under orders from Darien not inform the other members of the council," said Ami.

"Darien is not the sole member of this council, he knows better than to give such orders, and you know better than to follow them. Our council was put in place so that we could all collectively make decisions as a group, hiding things such as this from the rest of us could be considered conspiracy."

"We understand why the council was created Rei," Cole glared at her.

"Do you because acting of your own volition, that tells me that you have no understanding. How are we supposed to be one coven if we're holding secrets like from each other?"

"We didn't want to worry everyone over nothing Rei….."

"Vampires are being murdered all of the world and you didn't want to worry people!" Rei burned with fury.

"Rei, it was a decision made for the greater good, we didn't want the general population to know what was going on it could cause a panic. But now that things have gotten more serious we have informed Lucius, Antony, and Caleb that they need to go into hiding for their safety," Ami said.

"And what about Darien and Serena?" asked Rei "Have they gone into hiding as well?"

"They are already in seclusion it doesn't seem likely that this new enemy knows where they are when we don't even know where they," said Ami.

"There are a few people that know where Darien and Serena are," Rei muttered.

"Not anymore," said Cole, Rei looked at him. "They've moved again, left the other night and didn't take any of the security team with them. We've been communicating with Darien via satellite, but he's using an encrypted channel so that we can't decipher his location."

Rei scratched her head, "As unsettling as that is perhaps it's the best for them they've been through a lot in the last few months, and I know Serena hasn't been the same since the…'incident'".

"Until we have better information we don't see any reason to bother them ," Ami said.

"Respecting the privacy of the King and Queen may have to take second priority now," said a voice from behind them. All three turned around to see a tall dark skinned woman standing before them. She had long dark hair that fell to her back, and wore a floor length purple dress, the sleeves went to her mid arm and around her neck was an intricate choker made of black with a white gem at the center.

Ami glared at the woman, "Trista."

Trista's amethyst eyes flicked over to Ami then settle upon Rei, "I have been sent here to deliver a message". Ami glanced at Cole and then back to the Trista. "The child, she has had another vision, soon there is to be more attacks on Vampires more lives lost. She has not seen specific locations, but she had informed us where she believes they enemy will strike."

"Wonderful, we can send backup and push security," Ami said.

"That not all that she has seen," Trista told them. She inhaled a deep breath, "She told us 'The future is unclear, but the last twenty years of peace may be in danger, the Queen especially must strengthen her heart for what is coming, there is a dark storm on the horizon.' This is all that was spoken."

Rei glanced at Ami and Cole, then looked back at Trista, "What the hell does that mean?"

"You must prepare the King and Queen."

"I don't see any reason to alert them and ask them to return just yet, we'll contact them when we find something more," Ami said.

"I agree with that we should tell them what's happened, but I do not want to alert them to the situation until we know more, putting excess stress on Serena wouldn't be healthy for her right now," said Cole. "Rei do you think that you could lead the investigation?"

"Lita and I will handle it yes," Rei told them.

Ami turned to leave, "Good then you two should leave for Malaysia as soon as you can."

"Ami where is Mina?" Rei asked.

Ami stopped, "Malachite said that she was at their home in California."

"I want her put under surveillance," said Rei.

"Why?"

Rei blinked and opened her phone, "She's betrayed us before and I'm not about to take the chance that she will do it again."

Ami stepped forward, "We don't have the resources to have her put under surveillance right now, besides she hasn't caused any problems since swearing loyalty to the Crown."

"I don't care, I am not about to put the safety of my people in jeopardy again because of a lose end," said Rei. "I want her under twenty four hour surveillance, I don't care if Malachite has pledged his allegiance Mina is a loose cannon and if she gets the opportunity to cause trouble I believe she'll take it."

Ami looked at Cole, who had raised no objection, then back at Rei. She sighed, "Fine I'll send Nephrite to watch her while you and Lita are gone, she isn't going like being put under house arrest."

"Tell her it was on my orders," Rei said passing Trista as she left the room.

"You must take care Princess, making enemies has always been a strong part of your personality," said Trista.

Rei stopped and turned around "Don't patronize me, I am not in the mood."

Trista turned and locked eyes with Rei, "I understand that Princess, but I must urge you to persuade the King and Queen to return. They will be needed."

"They are always needed. The council will be able to handle whatever happens."

"The council is now a strong governing body, and it is true that Serenity and Endymion are no longer the same political figures that they have been in previous years but they are the beacons of this regime, and of this coven you will need them to lead you in these upcoming months," Trista told her.

Rei silently stared, "My brother and sister need their right for now. Until it is detrimental I shall not encourage their return." Rei turned then and left the room without another word. Behind her Ami and Cole, who had watched the exchange agreed telepathically that Trista should also be watched.

* * *

"Malaysia? Are you being completely serious Rei?" said Lita as she zipped the suitcase closed.

"I am, I need you to go with me, and since Nephrite is going to be Mina's jailer you're free," Rei explained as she pulled clothes from her closet and threw them into her open luggage bag.

Lita looked at her husband who was staring at the floor his face stony, "What a vacation for you." Nephrite glanced up at her with a frown.

"Are there any leads as to who could have orchestrated this?" he asked Rei.

Rei threw a shirt from her closet it missed the bag and landed on the floor, "We don't want to alarm anyone yet, but Cole thinks that this may be the work of humans. He says a radical group may be responsible, but since there's still only a little evidence he doesn't want anyone jumping to conclusions, part of our job will be to track down any leads we can find in Malaysia."

"I don't like the idea of the two of you going alone," Nephrite said.

"Nephrite we'll be fine there's another group there that has set up camp, and there's going to be a ton of people trying to investigate as well," Lita said. "We'll be surrounded by friends."

"Friends is a loose term, I still don't think it's a good idea."

"Good idea or not, it's what needs to be done," Rei turned to them her arms full of clothes she dropped them on top of the bag on the floor. "We're going as soon as everything is in order."

Nephrite didn't fail to notice how Rei refused to look at either of them directly, "Have you told Jadeite yet?"

Rei stilled, "No, I haven't."

"He won't be pleased."

"I expect he won't be, but he knows that this is part of my duty."

Nephrite frowned, "There are others that can take on this task, you do not have to put yourself in danger."

"Nephrite something big is coming, Trista came to warn us…"

Nephrite froze, "Trista? Trista Meioh? I thought she was dead."

Finally Rei looked him in the eye, "So did we then several months ago, she arrives at a council meeting without any warning and started informing us of things that were planned. She was the one who warned us of the assassination attempt on the human Prime Minister last month."

Lita looked between Nephrite and Rei, "Who is this Trista Meioh?"

Rei glanced at Lita before looking back at Nephrite. "Trista Meioh was a Romulen seer who was trained by Astrid. Lon before the death of my parents and before the marriage of Darus and Serenity," Rei said. "She disappeared without a word a few years before the Queen was born."

"And?"

"Before she disappeared, she was captured by my father's men and became a Valcor prisoner, during that time she was guarded by several young generals, your husband being one of them."

Lita looked at her husband who stood as unmoving as stone, "Nephrite?"

"We were told to guard her and ensure that any visions be told directly to the Queen and King," he said. "She remained with us for five years before finally being liberated and then disappearing."

Rei watched Nephrite's face, she had heard rumors about him and Trista before and his reaction now was only affirming them for her.

"I haven't seen her since before she was taken and returned to the Romulen sanctum" he said.

"Yes well she told us that for the past several centuries she and her charge have been in hibernation," Rei told them.

Lita took her eyes away from her husband to look at her friend, "what charge?"

"When she arrived she had a young girl with her. This girl also has the sight, but she's a lot more powerful than Trista. She claims to have inherited it from her mother. They have both been asleep for the past few decades, and it was only a few years ago that Trista woke. Hotaru soon followed after her." Rei sat down on the bench in front of her bed next to Lita.

Nephrite stepped forward, "Where is Trista now?"

"I don't know where she goes when she disappears, she just comes says her peace and gives us messages from the girl then leaves again."

"I would like to speak with her if possible, next time you see her please deliver that message," Nephrite said.

Rei looked from him to Lita then back again, "I can deliver the message."

"Thank you," Nephrite gave her a slight bow and then turned and left the room without another word.

After he was gone Lita spoke again, "Rei what's the story between those two?"

Rei hesitated and watched Lita somberly, "I think that you should ask your husband."

"I'm asking you, if I were to ask him he would brush me off and not tell me unless it was forced out of him. As a friend I want the truth of what you know."

Rei sighed, "From the rumors that I've heard while Nephrite was her jailer he fell in love with her. Trista is a woman of profound beauty and mystery it's easy to see how any man could fall in love with her. From what I gather and from knowing your husband, Nephrite may suspect that the seer child in Trista's care could be their offspring."

Lita inhaled a deep breath, "I….I don't know what to say."

"I told you that it would have probably been wiser to talk to your husband about it" said Rei.

"He's never told me about her," Lita said, "Never even mentioned her name."

Rei reached over and firmly took her friends hand, "It may be because it was such a long time ago that it doesn't matter anymore."

"I thought we had shared all of our secrets, but never once has he ever mentioned her name."

"Lita just because he had an fling with her doesn't mean that he really loved her."

Lita shook her head, "Nephrites not like that, he wouldn't bed a woman he didn't care about, and taking a Romulen woman was even more of a risk, he must have loved her. Then being torn from her without any warning, it must have been devastating."

Rei watched Lita, "Do you fear he still has feelings for her?"

"It's reasonable, he never got the closure he wanted from her and now that he thinks she may have bore him a child…it could stir up old feelings in anyone."

"Lita Nephrite loves you, and he loves you very deeply." Rei turned to face her friend, she took both of Lita's hands in her own and squeezed.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't love her as well. You said she is beautiful… is she…is she like Serenity?" asked Lita

Rei shook her head, "Not even close."

"What kind of beauty is she then?"

Rei tried to search for words that would comfort her friend, but looking into the brunette's eyes she realized that Lita wanted the truth more than any comfort. "She's got dark skin and long dark hair, her eyes are amethyst, and her presence is full of regality and mystery."

"She sounds like a goddess," said Lita.

"But you are just as beautiful," Rei told her.

Lita raised an eyebrow, "Don't try to make me feel better."

"I have to try," Rei said. "Come on some Malaysia will give you some time to think, let's get ready to leave."

Lita nodded and then stood, "Thank you Rei." Lita left Rei alone in the bedroom. Rei watched her go and felt a pain in her heart, she hated that she had just told Lita truth because deep down she knew that it had broken a piece of her friend's heart.

* * *

The water around the small pavilion was still, the plants beneath the calm surface were all a deep purple color making the water the same shade, fireflies flew peacefully landing gently onto the water lilies, bright yellow lanterns lit the perimeter of the lake. The only sound besides that of nature was the Clang of metal scraping upon metal.

A long metal staff crashed down onto two crossed sais that were blocking the aggressive attack. "Keep your guard up, your movement was too impulsive" said the man holding the staff, his white hair and long beard contrasted with his tanned and wrinkled skin, but his eyes still held a twinkle of knowledge and youth from many years previous.

Serena used all her force to throw him backwards and took her defensive stance. Her hair was a mess and she was drenched in sweat from the humidity. "You must concentrate more on your strategy don't just throw yourself into the battle. This is a dance you must master, let the movements flow through you not control you like a puppet."

She let out a strangled cry of frustration and attacked her instructor again. He easily blocked all of her attacks with little effort. Finally he disarmed her of one of her sais, the knife flew into one of the wooden pillars of the pavilion and stuck. Serena stared at it for a moment then attacked with the reaming sai, it only took a few seconds for her master to disarm her again, knocking her off balance and then pinning her to the ground.

He hovered above pushing the staff into her neck, "Your emotions are clouding your flow and your strategy. You must let go of that which you are holding onto and allow yourself clarity," he told her. She stared up at her master, her breathing ragged, when he removed his hold on her she pushed herself up on her elbows and shook her head. Her long hair had fallen from his bindings, she let it fall to over her face as she composed herself once again. It took several seconds before she stood again ready to fight.

"That's enough for tonight I think," Darien said. Serena glanced over at him, he was standing silently at the entrance of the pavilion, his arms crossed casually over his chest.

"You highness," said the master, he clasped his hands together and bowed low to Darien out of respect.

"No, Lun Yao I bow to you," Darien mirrored Yao's actions, but bowed lower. "Thank you for training my wife it has been an honor to us both," Darien said standing back up. He looked at Serena who was drinking from a glass of water, her back facing the two men.

Lun Yao glanced from Serena to Darien, "Your highnesses will excuse me, an old man like me must have more rest then you young people," as he left he clasped Darien on the shoulder and gave him a sympathetic nod.

Darien waited till he knew everyone near was gone before he spoke with Serena. "You're improving quickly, the master says that you a fast learner."

"I had a good teacher before him," Serena said not facing him. "Astrid always taught me how to defend myself, I think she would have like Lun Yao." She held her weight on the banister of the pavilion and stared out at the pond.

"I agree," he stood next to her in silence for another several moments before she broke the peace.

"What happened?" she asked "You wouldn't have ended my lesson early unless something had happened, so what is it you came to tell me?"

Darien inhaled a deep breath and then said, "There's been an incident."


	3. Chapter 2

I do not own sailor moon or its characters...too bad

"You have had a week to gather the necessary information and you are telling us that you have the same information as the initial reports had?" yelled Caleb.

Rei stared at the screen in front of her, five faces glared back at her. She had been in Malaysia for the past week and though most of the damage had been cleaned up they still had almost no information. Wanting to know her progress the council had called a satellite meeting to discuss the events of the past several days.

"You were sent to Malaysia to do recon not to have a vacation," Caleb shouted.

"Will you please control your tongue!" Rei snapped. "I haven't been able to find anything because there's nothing to find. In a country with millions finding a group of radical humans isn't easy."

Caleb frowned at her "You were sent there to…."

"What has the chemical analysis discovered?" asked Lucius.

"Nothing that we didn't know before, all the chemicals are things that could be found and bought on the black market and though we've had our spies looking out no one has come up with any names," said Rei. "No one's buying this stuff in bulk."

"Perhaps they have several agents buying the materials?"

"There have been several names that have been brought up nothing significant, if they buy two things there's a plausible explanation for why they bought another thing," Rei said. She looked down at the list of names in front of her.

"So the problem seems to be that whoever is buying these materials is smart enough to hide that they are buying them or they are acquiring them another way," Ami said.

"I'm assuming that questioning the locals has been unsuccessful?" said Cole.

"What locals, the vampire coven out here was fifty miles from anyone, it's literally in the middle of nowhere, what supplies they needed they either had dropped in or someone was sent out once a month," Rei told them. "They were about as native as the real natives, living off of the land and surviving on rationed blood. I'm actually waiting for us to find Ranger Rick out here."

"They were a simple living Vampire community, an experiment of sorts," Ami said.

"Well let's just hope no one brings that experiment home with us," Rei muttered.

"So gentlemen what is the next course of action?" said Anthony, speaking for the first time since the meeting had started. His dark penetrating eyes made Rei squirm in her seat, she knew he was a kind man but his reputation during the war had always made her guarded towards him.

"I think we just have to progress with what we have," said Rei. "Cole didn't you have some radical group that was making threats?"

"Yes the last few weeks, almost a month before the first attack, there have been several incidents," said Cole. "A vampire and her mate were out one night in Barcelona when a group of humans confronted them in a public place, the normal humans around didn't think anything of the incident, but Francesca and her husband were quite scared and since then acts of violence in the area have been escalating."

Anthony flipped through a copy of the report that he had been sent "Have we ever encountered them before?"

"No, it's a new group and all we know is that they are widespread and that their leader is pushing his people to be more aggressive," Cole told them.

"Do we have any names that could be linked to this group?" asked Lucius.

"We have one name that came up in a conversation, but we can't confirm or deny the suspects involvement with the group," Cole said hesitating. He shifted through his papers and was silent for a few more minutes.

Ami stared at Cole, "What name?"

Cole shifted in his seat, "He's an old acquaintance of several members of our coven, Shichinosuke Miyagi."

Cole looked at Ami to see if she had a reaction to the name and when she didn't he continued. "He has been seen with several unidentified men, who have had ties to the radical community, we cannot say for sure if he has been involved in the attack but there are suspicious events that have suggested that he had some kind of involvement."

"We should send someone to investigate and question him," said Lucius. "An agent who's had training in interrogation."

"I'll go" said Ami. Five pairs of eyes looked at her, "I've known Shichinosuke for a long time, I volunteer my services to go with a group and interrogate him."

"Ami as a member of the council your safety is a top priority, do you think that it is wise to go and face a man who may be working to kill our people?" asked Anthony.

"Rei is also a vital member of this council and she too is in the field, there should be no reason that I am not allotted the same treatment as she," Ami said. "I'll be in Tokyo as soon as I can find suitable accommodations and transportation."

"This council has not agreed to approve your mission," Caleb yelled.

"I do not need the permission of this council, I am still an agent of the Valtoris and I will not allow my status as a council member hold me back from doing my duty," Ami said.

"Being a member of this council trumps your Valtoris status! If we lose any members the balance of power would be shifted and our entire coven would be weakened!" Caleb was not giving in without a fight.

"If the council objects to my actions than I suggest that as a commutative group you agree for me to not go, however if the decision is not unanimous then it is invalid." Ami waited staring at the screens in front of her.

Rei shifted in her seat and then spoke, "Ami is one of our most reliable and trusted agents, I make no objection to her going to Tokyo."

"My objection is obvious," Caleb said.

"And noted," Cole looked at Ami, "I trust Ami and if she believes that she can speak with Miyagi then I will support her going."

Ami nodded her thanks, though she didn't need anyone else's approval she looked at Lucius. "I have known you for a very long time my Lady, I know of your skill and I trust your instinct, however I feel that we should not endanger another member of the council when another just as qualified agent could take your place."

Ami nodded and smiled at him out of respect, she looked to Antony. "And your decision?"

Antony stared at her for several moments and then took a deep breath, "You have to follow whatever path you believe in, I have no objection."

Ami stood, "I thank you all for your opinions and concerns, I shall take extra precautions in my movements and will report back to this council as soon as I can." She bowed to them and then ended the conversation.

"Are we going to Tokyo?" Ami turned around and looked at her husband. He was leaning with his back against the wall, arms crossed, and looking at her with a blank face. She smiled at him and approached him.

"No my darling I'm going Tokyo."

"You don't want me to go with you?" He opened his arms and she stepped into his embrace.

"I don't, Shichinosuke have some unfinished business and I believe that this may be the most opportune time to resolve our business, and if I can find out what his connection to this new human group is we may be able to track them down."

Zoicite raised an eyebrow, "Should I be concerned about this unfinished business?"

"No my love I have only several things to say to him, then it will be done and I can interrogate him professionally," she said. She leaned in and gave her husband a light kiss on the lips. "Have you spoken to Darien?"

"Not since the other day, I'm getting slightly worried."

"It's been a week?"

Zoicite nodded, "I don't know if they know about what's happening or what but I know that they are no longer in the east, they have moved again.

"Without notifying anyone again," Ami said. "Those two are living very dangerously I don't think that our King and Queen should be running around unchecked without anyone knowing where they are, especially since these attacks are becoming more and more frequent."

"Which I precisely my argument for you, send someone else my love, another agent who you can trust. Having you moving alone isn't making me feel at ease," he said he brushed her bangs away from her face. "I don't want you out in the world without protection."

"Zoicite, I was trained by my mother, and by Astrid I know how to protect myself, I know what to look for and I know how to disappear."

"I don't doubt that my dear but I am still apprehensive about this, especially since you do not want me to go with you," he said.

"Like I said Miyagi and I have unfinished business and if I show up with my husband the not only will it hinder our personal resolution, but it will also hinder our professional relationship. Besides you'll only slow me down," she said.

"I am a Valcorian General if anything it would be you who would have to keep up with me," he said.

Ami leaned in close to her husband, their lips almost touching, "No darling being a Valcorian General is what would slow you down. You think to formally, life is not a chess game there are no set rules and one must constantly evolve with every passing decade." She brushed her lips to his and then pulled away moving past him towards the door, "However there is something I would like you to do for me while I am gone."

Zoicite clenched his teeth, "What is it?"

Ami turned back to looked at him, "I would like you to keep an eye on Trista." Zoicite raised a questioning eyebrow, "I don't trust her, there's something going on her re-appearance is too convenient."

"She is a seer, it makes sense that she would arrive during a time of turbulence," he said.

Ami shook her head, "Something is off with her, I cant explain it, but I feel it. And Rei feels it too, I want you to watch her and gather any and all information about her and this child that you can."

"Ami she's…."

"I know, but I still don't have any reason to trust her and until I have a reason I won't put any faith in her," Ami said. "She's a wildcard in all of this and I do so hate to put all my bets on a wildcard. They can always turn on you."

Rei stood in the brightly lit morgue, in front of her were several blackened and charred bodies. The long haired doctor sitting off to the side had said nothing for several moments, Rei sighed. "If you haven't found any new chemicals on these bodies than why am I here?"

"You are here, your highness, to identify this body," he said not looking up from his desk.

"How am I supposed to identify a body with no face!" Rei yelled pulling back the cover to show the man's blackened and burnt upper torso and head.

"There are several identifying marks on his body my Lady," said the doctor, his voice completely mono tone. "They may help you identify the gentleman lying there."

Rei grunted in frustration, she looked at the man's body, most of his body had been destroyed in the second blast. His entire upper torso and head were coal black and his left leg from the foot to the thigh was the same. She noticed that his right arm had been severed at the elbow sometime prior to his death and had been replaced by a metal arm. Rei pulled back the sheet and looked the man's lower torso, there was a tattoo on the left part of his stomach. "I'm guessing you mean this?" she said. The doctor nodded without even looking at her.

She examined the tattoo closely, it was a thick tribal design that began on his front wrapped around his sides and climaxed on his back. From what she could see there was nothing special about the tattoo, it was intricate and had a sort of hypnotizing maze to it but she had never seen it before. Suddenly her head snapped up, that was it, she had never seen it before. She had known almost everyone at their division, she had studies the files for hours on the plane ride, and had been reading nonstop since arriving. Not once had this man's tattoo come up in any of the files.

"Alright I get what you're trying to show me," she said. Finally the doctor turned around and stood from his seat. "So who the hell is this guy?"

"At first I thought he was some new transfer, and his paper work was just behind, however upon closer inspection I found this," he held up the man's metal arm. "Notice anything?"

Rei looked at the arm it was shiny sleek, metallic arm, red in color. Rei looked at him, "Is there something I should be seeing?"

"It's dyed silver my Lady," said the doctor.

Realizations clicked, "Vampires are allergic to silver."

"Yes your highness we are," he said raising his eyebrows.

"You've peeking my interest," she said.

"This man is not a Vampire, he is not a lycanthrop…..he is a pureblooded human," the doctor said.

"What would a human be doing in the Vampire coven?" Rei asked.

"I think I can answer that," he picked up the mans arm again and twisted the wrist towards the body, suddenly a sword about two feet in length shoot out from the joint.

"Made for killing vampires," she said staring at the blade. "So this human infiltrated our covens walls, how many bodies have you found with wounds that match this weapon?"

"That was the other reason I brought you here, there are nine victims with pierced hearts and I am positive that when I compare the wounds will match this blade, but there is another reason for concern as well," he said. He pointed to a body that was covered in a white sheet. "That man over there was torture, there are numerous lacerations and marks on his body."

"Who is he?"

"His name is Serik," the doctor said.

"No! Damn it!" Rei yelled. "How long did they torture him?"

"I would have to say several dozen hours."

"Fuck!" Rei removed her gloves and ran her hand through her hair. "Alright thanks…"

"I will contact you when I have more information my Lady, I am working right now to identify this human."

"Thanks," she said. She turned from him and walked out of the morgue. Her shoes clicked on linoleum flooring as she walked down the deserted hallway towards the stairs. She turned the corner and had walked only a few steps when a sudden chill settled around her. She stopped and waited in the silence, she turned and looked behind her, her eyes shifting from the numerous closed doors. Rei readied herself, she knew someone was in the hallway with her. "Whoever you are you had better come out!"

Rei heard whispers behind her, she turned around and saw nothing, "Show yourself!" More whispers surrounded her, they began to get louder and louder, Rei turned back around and saw no one. Suddenly the doors at the end of the hallway slammed open on its own, then the rest of the doors followed each making a loud bang. "What do you want?"

Rei heard a laugh, a child's laugh coming from the end of the hallway. The lights at the end of the hallway began to flicker and then died out. Rei watched and saw movement in the shadows. The light suddenly flicked back on and Rei jumped. A little girl was standing where there had once been nothing, dressed in a knee length red dress, her long brown hair pulled back with a white ribbon, she was holding a white bear in her arms. "Who are you?" Rei called. She readied herself for a battle there was an evil aura surrounding the little girl. Fire engulfed Rei's hand.

The little girl laughed again, the lights flickered once more and when they came back on the girl was several steps closer to her. "Princess, Princess, Princess…." She sang in a high pitched voice.

"Princess of the Vampires, Sister Princess of the Prince, Princess, Daughter of a dead King…" the light flickered again and the girl was closer. Rei stood her ground, she wouldn't back down.

"Who are you?" The light flickered again and suddenly the girl was no more the five feet away from Rei.

"I have a message, a message for the Princess," the girl said with a high pitched laugh.

"What is it?" Rei said holding her hand in front of her. The little girls brown eyes glanced at the fire and she smiled. She sucked in a breath and then blew out, Rei's fire was extinguished instantly. Rei felt fear sink into her body, she was defenseless, she stumbled back a few steps. The little girl laughed sadistically, then suddenly the chill dissipated and a warmth spread over Rei.

"Fear nothing in the face of darkness," the girls voice had changes, it wasn't mocking anymore, and the aura around her wasn't as foreboding, it was almost familiar. "Fear not the light nor the future, fear not life nor death, walk your path with strong legs, walk as if you have never stumbled…." said the little girl she looked up at Rei with soft eyes. "Watch the black dragon," she said with a sad smile. Then light flickered and the child was gone. Rei exhaled a breath and let herself drop to her knees. Her entire body was shaking, she could feel it, her entire being recognized it, she had just had brush with a very evil creature.

"They had tampered with forces they do not comprehend," said a deep voice. The figure was covered by the darkness surrounding them, her voice echoing in the dark cave. She stood in front of a large well, staring down at the scenes that played out on the water intently watching all of the people on the surface.

"Agreed, they have used forces that they cannot control," said another voice. The first figure looked up across the pool at her companion. "I fear that they will bring about the destruction of all things, all life forces, human, vampire, lycanthropes….all will die."

"This troubles me, this human believes he can control her," said the first figure. She pointed down into the pool at a man with long dark hair.

"He is a petulant child full of anger, he knows almost nothing," said the second figure.

"He is a danger to our Queen," said another voice. The two figures turned and looked at the younger black haired child sitting on a regal chair. Her hair was cut short and her bangs hid her eyes from view, her black dress hugged her thin and tall frame, a green pendant dangled from her neck emoting a soft glow. "He is a danger to our Queen," the girl repeated. "His attempts to destroy his enemies will destroy all. The time for observing is over, we must remove ourselves from the shadows and return to our rightful place behind our Queen."

"Our place is here, we have been charged to watch over from this place, we have done so since the beginning and we shall do so till the end," said the second figure.

"I will not," said the girl. "I will no longer spend the centuries watching, I have watched enough, it is time for me to leave this place."

"You'll weaken yourself, you must prepare for the battle against her," said the first woman.

"I weaken myself by being in this place, and she is not someone that I fear," the girl said. "I do not fear her because I do not fear death, all things begin and end, it is the fate of all things, even immortals."

"You cannot leave this place you will not be safe," said the second figure.

"I have been safe too long," said the girl she stood from her chair and went towards the well. She touched the surface and the images shimmered, when the ripples had stilled the face Serena stared back at them. "I wish to meet our Queen," she muttered.

"You…."

"I do not care any longer, I will not watch anymore" she said. She looked at the other two. She looked down once again and then turned away from them and the well. "I will no longer be alone," she said as she disappeared into the darkness.

"I wish to meet her again," said the first woman wistfully.

"Has she delivered her message?" he asked his large companion.

"No sir the other one got in the way before she could tell the Princess," said large white haired man.

"Seth, Seth, Seth…..you told me that there wouldn't be a problem with our little demon," he said flipping his long black pony tail over his shoulder.

"There shouldn't have been, however we didn't know that the other one would attach herself to our friend," Seth said.

"I should have trusted my brothers, they told me just to deal with her on our own, not to use a Summoner. Too many lose ends," he looked at the girl on the television monitor. She was petting her beard almost innocently. "She must really love them all to have come back like this….to bad they're all going to die no matter what she does."

"She is a powerful seer Sir, she knew much when she was alive and there is no reason to believe that her powers have diminished," Seth told him.

"I don't think so, if she was as powerful as they say she would easily be able to subdue our little friend," he said with a smile. He studied the little girl as she smoothed the wrinkles out of her red dress. "Or maybe she's just as crafty as they say….I should have killed her the moment she whispered her name." He touched the girls face on the screen, "Funny she almost looks like the little seer bitch did before she died, I wonder if she likes her new body."

"Lord Seiya the others have arrived they would like to see you," said Seth.

He stared at the screen for several more moments then he pushed himself and his chair backwards and stood. He straightened his jacket and messed his bangs, "Well let's get this little massacre planned why don't we."


	4. Chapter 3

I do not own sailor moon or its characters

* * *

"They tortured Serik before they killed him" said Rei as she stepped out of the bathroom. Lita sat on the bed typing away at her black laptop.

"Serik, who was their leader," Lita said not looking up. She was opening the autopsy files that had been sent to her by the doctor.

"They had him for several hours so there's no telling what kind of information they got out of him," Rei ran the towel through her long wet hair. "I informed Ami and Cole that we had a security leak and they are rewriting all codes and encryptions just to be safe."

"What makes you think that it was our data base that these humans wanted?" Lita looked up at her.

"What else would they want, every leader of ever off shot coven is briefed with all emergency codes and all top secret passwords and information. I don't think that they were searching for the secrets of cultivating vegetation in the sand dunes," Rei said.

"But if you think about it hitting the simple living community to get codes for computers doesn't make sense. I mean there was probably two computers in the entire village and they were only used when necessary." Lita looked back down at the computer screen and continued to sift through the autopsy photographs. "For them to attack a compound that has almost no technological prowess at all to get technical data information doesn't make any sense. If that's all they wanted why didn't they attack one of the covens in a city, it would have been easier to get instant computer access and they could have downloaded everything there before we were even aware that Serik had been compromised."

Rei stared at Lita, "Maybe they thought that attacking a coven that was 'hidden in plain sight' would have compromised their anonymity." Rei sat down on the bed next to Lita, "I can't understand any of this attacking this particular coven makes little strategic sense if they were only attacking because they wanted revenge I could understand."

"But that doesn't make any sense because if that had been their motive then they wouldn't of had any reason to torture Serik," finished Lita.

Rei put her head in her hands and rubbed her temples, "This is all giving me a headache, either these humans are very very well organized or they have no clue what they are doing and they are stumbling around in the dark."

"Either way we're the ones who stumbling around in the dark," Lita said. Neither spoke for several moments, "Rei I think we should go home we've done all we can here, the rest can be taken care of by the investigative team."

Rei nodded, "I agree there's nothing here for us to look at anymore…but….." Rei paused and inhaled a deep breath. "There is something else I have to tell you about." Rei explained what had happened at the morgue, Lita sat the entire time not saying anything, finally after Rei had told her what the little girl had said Lita spoke.

"A prophecy," said Lita. Rei nodded, "And you have no idea what this little girl was talking about?"

Rei shook her head, "None at all, I've been thinking about it all night and I haven't the slightest idea of what it would mean."

"Perhaps a warning?"

"Maybe but I don't know I mean at first I thought that the little bitch was going to kill me. Her aura was dark, like being around murdered innocents whose souls haven't been put to rest," Rei said. "It was evil, it was worse than Varinia worse than anything I had ever felt before. And then as suddenly as she appeared she changed and everything about her was different, her demeanor, her voice, her aura, everything was warm and gentle. It was like she was reaching out to me trying to help me…but something was holding her back forcing her against her will to leave."

"Did you tell Ami and Cole about it?"

Rei shook her head, "No I didn't want to discuss it until we were face to face but I know that there was something wrong with this girl. I was thinking about asking…." She swallowed "about asking Trista what she thought about it."

Lita visibly stiffened and became tense, "I know you don't like her Lita but she's a powerful seer and she may be the only one powerful enough to see what this kid is."

"Can't you go to someone else?" asked Lita. She stood and walked towards the large window on the other side of the bedroom.

"I don't know of anyone else that's alive, who is as powerful," Rei said. "If there was anyone else I would….."

"I know," said Lita "I just…the idea of having her so close in our confidence is troubling to me. I don't trust her, not only because of Nephrite's past with her but from what you've told me she's a little suspicious."

"Are you becoming suspicious of everything now?"

"I have to be, this isn't like the anything else we've ever been up against, this is different and we're going to have to approach it differently as well." Lita turned around to face Rei, "These are humans Rei, humans, we have to tread carefully."

Rei nodded in agreement then sighed, "I wish Serena and Darien were here to help. They always know how to handle problems."

"I agree but they need their strength, especially Serena, after…after what happened I don't think she should have to deal with all of this until she's ready."

"Yeah but if things stay the way they have been we're going to have to contact them and drag them back into the fight whether she's ready or not," Rei said. "I just hope that Ami can find something that will prolong our need for them."

Silence settled in between them again until Lita spoke, "Poor Serenity first her mother, then Astrid and her father and now this. I know her heart is strong but even she has a breaking point."

"Let's hope it doesn't come anytime soon."

* * *

Ami sat in a finely decorated room, the walls were paneled with thick wood, the carpets were a deep forest green with intricate gold patterns, all of the furniture was polished and heavy, she could smell the ancient oils from the paintings in the room, as well as the age of the books on the book shelves.

"It's different from when you were last here," said a man's voice from behind her.

Ami stopped admiring the room and turned, the man before her was young, about 25, with thick black hair, and brilliant hazel eyes. The angles and shape of his face were due to his mixed heritage, Asian and British, and his strong jaw she knew was from his father. He wore a dark blue tailored suite, a white undershirt, and shiny black shoes, the absence of a tie gave the impression that he was in casual attire but Ami knew better. She could smell the product in his hair, the prevalent fragrance from the shower he had taken not long before, and the harsh smell of the chemicals that the women had used to clean his nails. He was attempting to impress her.

"My father told me that the last time you were here he was a boy of 22 and my grandfather was still the head of our family," she detected his accent clearly. "The room was decorated the same until about two years ago when my father finally decided he no longer wanted it in the Asian style."

It was true, the last time Ami had stood in this room it had been mostly bamboo and paper walls, sliding doors, and low tables. Now it was a western style very different from before. "I was here almost 30 years ago, I am not surprised to see that the décor has changed after three decades."

"And yet my father noted to me that you have not aged a day, must be interesting to be an immortal," he said stepping closer to her.

"No more interesting than being the son of a family with ties to the immortal world," she said.

"But we are still essentially human, pureblooded humans, not a drop of immortal blood in us," he said. "A rarity in these days I suppose there's almost no humans who have completely pure blood. All the fornicating with the immortal creatures of the night and all those who married beneath their status. A lot of pureblood's been dirtied over the years."

Ami watched him, "You talk as if those who are not pureblooded humans are below you."

"I only mean to point out that purebloods are a rarity, like you pureblood vampires and your royals. They don't marry beneath them do they?"

"Modern practices have dictated that most marry whomever they chose, the issue of blood and status is of little concern anymore," Ami said analyzing the boys every move.

"Hmm I see," he put his hands in his pockets and turned away from her, "But I'm sure the pureblood of a human tastes better than that of a mixed inbred mongrel."

Ami noticed his smile, "I wouldn't know I haven't had the blood of any pureblooded humans lately."

He turned around and was about to open his mouth once more when the door behind him slammed open, "Momosuke leave!" Ami didn't take her eyes off of the boy until Shichinosuke had closed the door and given them privacy.

"Your son has some interesting ideas in that head of his," Ami said. She finally looked up at him, age had taken its toll on her old friend but despite the wane of time he was still handsome. His dark hair was streaked with grey and his eyes were worn and slightly dulled. His bones cracked faintly as he walked, but it was so muffled beneath his body that she didn't think he even realized he had arthritis.

"Thirty years changes a man," he looked up at her, "But a woman, a woman is a different story."

"My lack of age has little to do with my sex," Ami said. Shichinosuke sat down on the one of the lavish couches in the room. He tucked his green and black kimono around him and placed a long samurai sword next to him. Ami smiled slightly and sat down in a chair across from him.

Silence lapsed between them for several minutes before he finally spoke, "There is design behind your visit I suppose." Ami nodded, "And seeing that that ring now adorns your finger I can surmise that I had little to do with our personal relationship and more to do with the professional relationship I have with your coven."

"The personal business between us had little to do with my visit, but like air it is ever present, however my main concern does refer to the professional parts of your dealings with my coven," Ami said.

"And which coven is that the Valcors? Or the Romulens? I do so forget where you allegiances lie they seem to switch so often," he said his words meant to cut her.

Ami smiled, she had expected his hostility. "My allegiances lie to my Valcorian King and my Romulen Queen, who are married, the war between our families has been ended for a long time, we have been a united coven for the past two decades, you know this Shichinosuke."

He stared at her "And yet it has not stopped the attacks on humans throughout the world."

"We cannot be expected to control all vampires Shichinosuke, we are as limited as the human governments. Though we are able to find and eradicate many of those who refuse to abide by the rules our King and Queen set forward, we cannot be expected to stop all the rogue Vampires in the world. If it was expected of us then we too would have to raise the bar for the human authorities as well."

"Your Queen seems to have been responsible for many of the new reformations that have been made to your governments policy as of late," he said.

"Queen Serenity takes her position as a ruler very seriously."

"However it has been seen that her husband isn't as aggressive in his policy movements," Shichinosuke said.

"King Endymion supports his wife whole heartedly they are figure heads of our government and are the symbol of unity amongst our people," Ami told him. "They are the reason that the hunting of humans has been reduced so greatly in the past two decades." Ami crossed her left leg over her right leg and leaned forward. "But I am not here to discuss our government's policies on humans, I am here to discuss your involvement in the terrorist attacks that have been against our coven."

"Always direct weren't you," he said with a sarcastic smile. "I have had no involvement with any terrorist organization nor have I been involved with any organization trying to eradicate vampires."

"Then you wouldn't mind explaining a few things to us….several of your acquaintances…"

"Have their own separate lives and their own separated beliefs, if any of my acquaintances are involved in terrorist activities against your _government _then it is because of their own ideals and has nothing to do with me or my family," Shichinosuke said.

Ami narrowed her eyes, "I find it hard to believe that the Miyagi family doesn't know who their friends and enemies are."

"We know very well who our friends and enemies are Miss Ami."

"I believe that you do," she said. Ami stood and straightened her skirt, she picked up her large purse. "I understand your position now clearly, thank you for your time Shichinosuke, it has been a pleasure to see you again. My regards to your family." Ami left the room quickly without looking at him.

Shichinosuke remained seated at his desk, he folded his hands together and leaned his chin against them. "Tell me Deanna what are your thoughts on the new Vampire government?"

A tall blonde woman stepped into the room from the hallway Ami has just left by. "I think that they have a plan and that this whole policy on humans is a veil for what is really happening."

"I have watched this Queen of theirs, she seems to legitimately want to stop the aggressiveness between Humans and Vampires….."

"There is something off about this Queen the more I hear of her the more suspicious I am of her. Shichinosuke you have heard Seiya's stories, in the past 20 years nothing has changed, they are still as blood thirsty as they were before," she said sitting down in the chair next to him. "We must continue to support Seiya, he is right and he will help humans take back what is rightfully ours. Believe my love that we will win this War and we will," she reached out and squeezed his leg then stood and left him alone.

"I wonder what god it was that decided this world belonged to its residents," Shichinosuke muttered.

* * *

Nephrite watched as Mina paced back and forth in her sitting room. Her long yellow gown swished against the carpet, Nephrite rolled his eyes, no matter what Mina was always a prima donna. "I don't understand why you have to be here," She said "It's absurd I've pledged my allegiance to both Endymion and Serenity, and Malachite has faithfully served them for all these years since the Treaty was signed. We are prominent members of courts and now you are treating me like a common criminal."

Nephrite opened his mouth but was cut short, "I seem to remember a certain Vmpyre who was in league with our enemies and attempted to overthrow and seize the crown for herself a few years back." Both Nephrite and Mina looked up at the woman standing in the doorway. The woman wore a black skirt and suite jacket and had a thick golden necklace around her neck. She gave Mina a mocking smile and put her weight onto her left leg.

"Why are you here Gabriella?" Mina's voice was harsh.

"Cole sent me, he wanted to give Nephrite some company," she looked at Nephrite, "Sorry you got put on babysitting duty." She walked into the room and sat next to Nephrite on the plush burgundy couch, her black heels clicking against the hardwood floors.

Mina glared at Gabriella as she sat down. Nephrite glanced over at Gabriella and smirked. "I don't need either of you in my house and it is an insult that Rei and the council approved this 'house arrest'! When my husband gets home I am going to….."

"Your husband is already aware of the situation already," Gabriella said.

"And he agreed?"

"What was he going to say, no?" Gabriella leaned back against the pillows. "Just deal with it Mina your being watched for the good of everyone, and who knows if you have good behavior maybe this could be the last time that we have to babysit you," Gabriella smiled at her.

Mina spun on her heel her long yellow night whirling around her legs. Before she could say a word, however, a baby's cries stopped her. Mina looked up at the door when a older Vampire woman walked in with a two year old child in her arms. "MY lady she has been asking for you all night," the woman said.

"Mommy!" the little girl cried. She had bright blue eyes like her mother and a soft angular face with high cheek bones, her hair was stark white like her fathers, she was a very beautiful child.

"Andromeda," Mina held her arms out to her daughter, her voice gentler and softer. She took her child in her arms and cradled her gently, "My darling don't cry I'm here. Come now I'll put you to bed, if that's alright with my babysitters," she said over her shoulder to Nephrite.

"You have free reign over your home Mina, if you step outside of your home however, we will have a problem," he said without looking at her. Mina glared at the back of his head and walked out of the room. The older Vampire woman bowed to Gabriella, who was starting at Mina's retreating form, and then followed her mistress.

Gabriella didn't even attempt to hide her shock at the scene. "My personal opinion is that she has undiagnosed social disorder," she said turning back to face Nephrite.

He smiled slightly, "Why are you really here Gabriella, I'm sure Cole needs you for more important things than this."

Gabriella stood and walked to the other side of the room, she sat down upon the couch opposite of Nephrite and reclined on the pillows. "Can't I take an easy assignment every once and a while?"

Nephrite raised a questioning eyebrow, "As the lieutenant to a Council member I highly doubt you are allowed 'easy assignments'."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Fine then I'll get to business."

"I wish you would."

"It's about your ex-lover, Trista," Gabriella said. "The council has discussed her presence and several prominent members feel that she may be hiding things from them. We don't trust her and that's a problem, especially now when Vampires are being murdered all over the world."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because we know she trusts you."

"Trista and I have not been involved for centuries, I am married now , besides whatever we had was brief I wouldn't say that she trusts me," he said.

"But she does, everyone can see it, if you're ever mentioned in passing her eyes light up and a little tiny bit of color is added to her cheeks," Gabriella told him. She held her hand in front of her and began to examine her cuticles. "Besides from what I hear you and she have some unfinished business…"

Nephrite glared at her, "I don't know what you mean."

"Well Trista showed up with a child in toe did she not? Haven't you been wondering who the father of that child is?"

Nephrite stiffened, the thought has crossed his mind several times, and he knew that sooner or later he was going to have to address the issue with Trista. "You have a choice, Cole is giving you the choice, you can willingly leave now to question Trista privately about professional and personal business. Or you can stay here, leave the entire investigation in others hands, and allow this whole mess to come out publicly," Gabriella said.

Nephrite sat silent and stony for several long minutes before answering. "What do you want of me?"

"Find out what games shes playing, find out if she's on our side, find out where she's been the last two hundred years, find out who woke her up, find out what she's planning to do with the rest of her life, find out everything."

"And Mina?"

"Someone will be here to relieve me of my punishment tomorrow night," Gabriella said playing with a lock of her hair. "As for you, you get to leave asap."

"I believe that this is the first and ever time that I would rather stay with Mina," he said as he stood and fixed his jacket.

"Yes, well that's how life is I suppose," Gabriella said.

Nephrite bowed to her and she waved her hand to dismiss him. He left the room as she turned and propped her feet up on the arm of the couch. She glanced around the room with disgust, "God this place is tacky."

* * *

"What do you mean she's left!" Seiya screamed picking up a pitcher and throwing it at the young man standing before him.

The man sidestepped the pitcher and watched as it hit the wall behind him and exploded. "From what she has said their little Seer has left the protective temple and is traveling to their main coven headquarters," Kain told him. He stood before Seiya casually, on hand in his the pocket of his black pants, the other fiddling with a button on his navy blue suit jacket, his expression was one of boredom

"Trista's little ward is not supposed to be able to leave the confines of that temple and now you are telling me that she just walked out into the world and booked a plane ticket?" Seiya yelled.

Kain shrugged and nodded once, "Seems like our little friend doesn't really know what she's talking about."

"Or someone else is fucking with the information coming out of her mouth," Seiya stormed from the room and towards the end of the hallway. He glared at the door in front of him, it was thick metal, painted black, and around the frame there were symbols etched into the walls. Seiya pounded on the door with his fist.

"Open the damn door you little bitch!" he yelled. Kain stood behind him, his expression had not changed. Silence answered them back. "Open this door right now or I'm going to have them burn you back into that hell you came from!"

The door flew open and banged against the wall allowing him entrance. Beyond the door the entire room was pitch black and no sound came from inside. "You threaten me!" came a high pitched angry voice.

"You had better tell me why Hotaru is out of her temple and walking around giving prophecies to our enemies!" Seiya screamed.

"I told you what I know!" came the voice again.

"That's a lie…who is it that I am speaking to now?"

"I am the one you summoned," she said softer now.

"Which one!" A low laugh came from inside of the darkness, then it grew silent again. "Answer me I am your master!"

Suddenly a hand reached out of the darkness and grabbed the front of Seiya's shirt. The little girls face appeared inches from his own, her eyes a deep glowing red. "I have no master! You are a pathetic human and if I didn't need you I would have cut your throat and drained you dry long ago. Do not speak to me as if I am yours."

She threw him back and he almost fell to the ground. With Kain's help he stood up again, he straightened his clothes and faced her. "Tell me is it the other one?"

The girl narrowed her eyes, "She grows stronger, my time isn't as long as it used to be, and she is even more deceptive than before. You must take care boy, she is learning how to deceive you."

"Was it she who told me that Hotaru could not leave her sanctuary?"

The girl glared at him, "Yes, she gave you a flase premonition to protect those she loved. She will fight you at every turn and since I cannot see her visions she will tell lies to protect them from me and you. Be cautious little human she will deceive you."

"Will Hotaru help them?"

The girls eyes rolled around in her head before finally settling back on Seiya. "She will, she is tired of being a bird in a cage, she wants to no longer be only a watcher, she wants to partake in life. You must move quickly if you are to move forward she is a much stronger visionary than I or my counterpart and she could cripple you before you are even able to walk."

Seiya nodded and then turned away from the little girl. "Take care Human the Vampire's aren't as harmless and unprepared as you think. You should strengthen your heart and remember that humans cannot return from the dead."

Seiya whipped around to yell back at her but before he could she had receded into the darkness and the door had slammed shut. "Well she's a dangerous one," Kain said.

"She hates us," Seiya said.

"Yeah that's obvious."

"But she hates the other one as well so she'll help us."

"What exactly went wrong during the summoning?" Kain asked.

"Nothing it was perfect spell, that other spirit was just able to latch on to my demon as we forced and sealed her into that body. She ensured that she too would be sealed in that body and now both of them fight for dominion. As of right now the demons in control most of the time, but that other being is getting stronger and stronger every day." Seiya collapsed onto a chair.

"Can't we just rip her out?"

"Not without losing the demon, and unfortunately to combat the Vampires we need that demon, she's too powerful to let go so we just have to deal with that other persona."

"Has the other one given a name yet?"

"No and no matter how hard anyone tries she wont reveal anything other than her desire to help the Vampire King and Queen," Seiya told him. "However we've begun to narrow it down, there are only several women who were powerful enough to use that kind of magic from beyond the grave. We'll know her true identity soon enough, and once we do it'll be easier to combat her and seal her away for good."


	5. Chapter 4

Ami watched the sun set behind the tinted glass of the jet window. The plane still had several more minutes before it took off and she was getting bored waiting. She sighed once and then turned from the window, looking down at the large stack of papers in her lap she bit her lip. They were profiles of all the men that had been associated with Shichinosuke in the past two months, as well as profiles of his current family and closest friends, and supporters. She began flipping through the manila folders attempting to memorize every suspicious man who had also been tied to any illegal activities. She stopped however, when she reached Shichinosuke's file. She flipped it open and read about the man who she had known for so long.

He had three children, his oldest son, who she had met, and his youngest son was from his deceased wife, while his youngest child, the only girl was from his new wife. A young socialite from Israel, from what Ami, knew she had almost no underworld connection, yet somehow she had gained Shichinosuke's attention. Ami stared down at the woman's picture, she was blonde with hazel eyes and a slightly tanner complexion, she was beautiful, but she looked almost nothing like Shichinosuke's former wife. Deanna had none of the features that Ami knew Shichinosuke liked; from personal experience she knew he liked dark haired woman, who were fair, and petite, Deanna was almost the complete opposite. And yet they had been married for almost seven years, and from what the research showed her there had never been any times of serious dissent between them. However most arranged marriages were publicly fine, and privately splintered.

She put down the profile folder in her hand and turned towards the window again. The sky was a darkening orange pink color, a warm soft glow that reminded her of her mother. Ami inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, it had been a long time since she had thought of Annette, and an even longer time since her mother had been killed, and she had not seen her since she was a very small child, but still she remembered her. After the spell on her memory had been broken it had taken her a long time to retrace her memories, with Astrid's help she had done so and had found precious memories with her mother.

The sound of her phone buzzing caught her attention, as she picked it up she was surprised to find that it was a blocked number. She furrowed her brows, everyone who had this particular number was someone she knew, she flipped the phone open and put it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Princess Ami, daughter of High General Annette Sennaveta…" the voice on the other end was female however it was distorted and crackled.

"Who is this?" Ami asked, she was instantly on alert, there were few people who knew what her ties to her mother had been.

"Identities are so unimportant in this day and age," she said. "But it's alright, I'll tell you when I meet you…I want to give you a warning to tell your Queen….." There was silence.

"And what is it that you want me to tell my Queen?" Ami asked.

The woman on the other end sighed heavily and then spoke, "Tell her not to fall to deeply down the rabbit hole."

"What does that mean?" but the line was now dead and there was nothing but a dial tone. Ami shut her phone and put it down in front of her on the table. She stared at it waiting for it to ring again, waiting to see the blocked number once more.

"Lady Ami?" said a soft voice besides her. Even though the woman had said her name softly Ami still jumped and knocked the folders and cell phone to the ground. Ami turned to the young woman, she had soft brown hair and kind blue eyes. "I'm sorry Miss I didn't mean to scare you," the woman bent down and began collecting her things.

"It's alright I was distracted," Ami said attempting to help her. When they had finished gathering everything and placed it back on the table the woman told her she was sorry once more. "No no, nothing serious, what were you saying?"

The girl nodded, "Oh I was just telling you that we are getting ready to take off and that you should secure your things and strap in, as well as turn off your phone."

Ami nodded, "Yes thank you." The girl disappeared to the front of the jet and began to speak with the other attendant. Ami opened her phone to shut it off when she noticed that she had a text message. She opened the messaged and read, her blood in her body ran cold, and she felt her heart stop. **Don't dwell, mommy dearest wouldn't approve…..**

Ami turned the phone off and thrust it down on the table in front of her. She could feel herself shaking, her entire body was on alert, and she felt like she was going to throw up.

* * *

"We need to find Serena and Darien," said Rei. She stood in front of Cole's desk her arms crossed over her chest and her weight supported on one leg.

"I know this Rei, but unfortunately we haven't had much luck," he said. He turned to Gabriella, "Have you been able to find anything?"

"No sir, the Queen and the King have been very smart in evading us, either they have been using channels that we don't know about or they are paying people very well," her voice was monotone almost as if it had been rehearsed too many times.

Cole supported his chin with his left hand, "There are secret channels of information as well as secret safe houses that only the Queen and King know about, this was all implemented in order to protect them if there was ever a coup, but I never expected them to use these security measures against us." He yawned, as if the matter was something trivial.

"Regardless, we need to find them asap!" Rei said.

"Why are you so insistent, we've been aware that their presence is needed," he said looking over at her.

"Tell him Rei," Lita said from behind her.

Rei looked over her shoulder at her friend and then nodded, "While we were investigating the attack…." Rei relayed the entire story to him as well. When she was finished both Cole and Gabriella were silent.

"I think you are right Lita this little child gave you a prophecy, and a sinister one at that, 'watch the black dragon'…." said Cole, "Have you researched the reference?"

Lita nodded, "Once Rei told me I was instantly looking at everyone and everything ever associated with a black dragon. There are three family crests that have had them in our history, but all are from very old families that either died out or were intermarried into other families, so the crests have been discarded. There was a black Dragon organization running illegal weapons and drugs out of Hong Kong, but they aren't connected to our world, they're mostly a Triad group. Then in the Northern Europe there were nineteen families that used the Black Dragon in reference in their lineage. However like the other three they died or breed out."

Cole nodded, "Are there any descendents of any of the families who have been connected to our world, and who have been causing trouble."

Lita shook her head, "All significant descendents have died or were killed a while ago, the last significant figure working under the Black Dragon of Scotland, was a daughter of an old aristocratic European family but she died several years ago. Other than her there wasn't anyone who would be using the Black Dragon Symbol."

"I see," said Cole.

"This is pointless, I don't give a damn if they have a pink, blue, orange, or grey dragon, we need Serena and Darien to get their asses back here and declare Formal Emergency," Rei glared at Cole, she was aware that Cole was lying. She almost suspected that he knew exactly where they were.

"Come come now Rei they'll be back when they are ready, they've both suffered a lot over the past few months and we don't want to rush them back into all of this, just to have it break them again."

"Look I am all for preserving their emotions and protecting their 'sprit' but our people are being murdered out there. Three more attacks have taken place in the Southern part of California alone, this is starting to get closer and closer to us and by the time they get to New York I don't want it to be too late for us to defend ourselves," Rei said. "I love Serena and Darien dearly, but we need them now!"

"Be calm Valcor Princess, the King and Queen will arrive when they are needed." Lita, Rei, and Gabriella turned to see Trista standing in the doorway. Her hair was pinned up nicely, her features were flawless, and her dark purple dress made her regal and mysterious.

Rei noticed Lita's shift in demeanor once she recognized who was standing before her; Trista saw it too, she turned to Lita and smiled gently. "Miss Lita, I have not had the pleasure of meeting you previously, I am Trista Meioh." She curtsied to Lita and bowed her head, Lita bowed a slight nod, her eyes then focused on the figure standing behind Trista.

Nephrite had yet to enter the room or look at his wife, his eyes were downcast and his stance was stiff. Trista followed Lita's eyes and smiled slightly, "You're husband was sent to…babysit...me. However when he arrived he found that I was leaving my home and so he had no other choice but to accompany me."

Lita nodded her head, she opened her mouth but was unable to say anything. Recognizing that her friend was uncomfortable Rei spoke, "Would you like to elaborate on your comment seer?"

Trista's eyes moved back to Rei, the Valcor Princess noticed that they narrowed, "King Endymion and Queen Serenity will return when the time is right, for now you must learn to deal with the situation on your own. Wasn't your council implemented so that you could learn how to deal with hostile situations independent of your Rulers?" Rei caught the snide tone in Trista's voice.

Rei glared at the woman before her, "Our council was implemented to ensure that the Valcors and Romulens all had an equal and fair side in our new government, it is true that our King and Queen do not always directly rule our people and leave us as regents. However we are stronger with them, they are the backbone of our family and they inspire, in all former Valcors and Romulens, hope. Though I have complete and utter faith in our council I would rather have my brother and sister here with us."

"Ironic, are you not a member of the ruling Council, I would think that you would want to keep them away as long as possible to ensure your power," Trista said.

"I only accepted this position because of my brother and sister, I am loyal to my council, but before all I am loyal to my family, to this Coven, and I do only what is best for them. Having Serena and Darien here is what is best."

Trista smiled, "I guess that would depend on opinion now wouldn't it."

Rei took a forceful step towards Trista, her power radiating at her fingertips. Nephrite moved from behind Trista to stand next to her, Gabriella stood from her seat on the couch, and Cole stood from his chair, Lita however made no move to restrain Rei. "Are you making an implication of something," Rei yelled.

"I make no implications of anything, however I would warn you that if you profess your favoritism for the King and Queen too loudly it could give some people the wrong impression Princess," Trista emphasized the last word of her sentence.

Rei clenched her hands into fists, "Remember well that this Coven still doesn't consider you a member, you are still a deserter in the eyes of the people, and I _warn_ you that you should think about who you make certain statements to, and who you make enemies of." Rei turned back to Cole, "Find Serena and Darien as soon as possible, I need to speak with them." She then turned and left the room; Lita stood too and followed Rei without looking once at her husband.

Cole sat back down and looked at Trista, "You sure know how to stir people up don't you."

"The fact that the Princess is able to become irrational due to a few comments shows that she is not ready to face what is coming," Trista said.

"And what is coming?" asked Gabriella.

Trista glanced over at the Hispanic woman, and the focused on a spot on the wall. "A threat, a great threat…"

"Do you have any other details other than that?" Gabriella asked.

Trista looked at the woman once more, "No, none that are certain enough to tell." She looked at Cole, "Once I know more I'll inform you, however I would like to request residence in the main house."

Cole glanced up from his desk and Gabriella shifted in her seat, "I suppose that can be arranged, however I would like to enquire as to why."

"The reasons are my own, but I believe it would be more convenient for you and your council….having me so close that is."

Cole glanced at Gabriella and then to Nephrite, "Make the arrangements."

Nephrite bowed, Trista nodded, "Thank you Cole you are most kind." Then she turned and left, Nephrite following close behind.

When the door was shut Gabriella turned to Cole, "These ambiguous warning make me nervous sir, they are too much like when Astrid was alive."

"Yes I know, however when it was Astrid we knew that she was giving us all that she knew, like Rei said, with Trista we still don't know if we can trust her."

"Sir is it wise to keep her so near?"

"I think it would be more unwise to allow her to wander without supervision, at least here we can watch her," he said.

There was silence between them then Gabriella spoke again. "Sir about the King and Queen…"

"The mission is still the same, as soon as you find anything about them you must tell me as soon as possible, I cannot keep lying to the council." Gabriella nodded, "Leave me, I need to think," he said. She stood, bowed low to him and then left the room. Cole spun around in his chair and stared at the wall behind his desk, he then turned back around and looked at the single picture on his desk.

"Sofie," he whispered, he rubbed his left eye with his wrist. "I wish you were here my love, you were always better at politics than I was, and you always knew how to handle Serena better than I."

* * *

"The girl has left the sanctuary of this temple," said the deep voice from the shadows. She stared down at the well before her, her companion remained silent. "I fear that her lifespan will shorten and weaken, she will not be able to fight that thing." When her companion did not answer the woman look up, there was a long few moments of silence. "What thoughts are swirling in that head of yours?"

Her companion looked up at her. "Do you not wish to follow her?" The first woman looked back down into the well and watched as a golden haired woman next to a dark haired man as they drove through a thick tropical forest. "You met her once when she was a child, do you still wish to meet her again, see who she has become?"

"I know the woman she has become I have watched her since she before she was a woman."

"Do you not wish to speak to her, the woman who you admire and love so very much?" asked the second woman.

"And you? Why is it you wish to see her?"

The second woman looked down into the well once more, "She reminds me of him so much. I want to tell her of him, I want her to know the things that she never did. I was to share with her the secrets of the man we both loved."

"You would break every law that has been set upon us?"

The second woman was silent and then looked up her companion, "The little one was right, for too long we have watched, for too long have we stood in shadow, even if it kills us, just for a few moments out of the eternity that has been our shackles I desire to defy fate."

"We were charged long ago with this task," said the first woman.

"Yes, we were charged long ago by those whose bones are dust, by those who have long since rested in their graves, they have no power over us anymore," she said. "We have stayed here beyond their expectations….do not we have the right to be free as well?"

"If we leave here then we will be placed in danger…."

"There will always be danger, and it may be reckless and childish and foolish, but for once I want to experience that danger, I want to know the fear of the uncertainty of life."

"I…."

"I love you my dear friend, but this I will not waiver on, I am going to follow the little one, with or without you."

The first woman looked up at her friend, there was a long silence that passed between them. "It seems my choice has been made for me." Her friend smiled at her, the first woman looked around the temple that they stood in, "This place that has been our home for so long…..I hate this place."

She turned to her friend, "It is time to leave."

* * *

"She's what!" yelled Lita.

Nephrite stood in front of his wife, he flinched, "Cole has ordered that she stay here in the main house, I have been ordered to make accommodations for her."

"Nephrite!" Lita was furious, not only was the woman monopolizing her husband, she was insulting her dearest friend and making suggestive implications of rebellion against another dear friend.

"I don't like it anymore than you do, however I have no choice, I have been ordered by the council to watch her and to make sure that she is supervised at all times," he said sitting down on the ottoman at the end of their bed.

She turned around and glared at him. "If you are so uncomfortable with it then get someone else to watch over her, someone you trust, I cannot stand that that woman is so close to you all the time, especially since you and her have unresolved tension that you refuse to discuss!"

"Lita there is no unresolved tension between us," Nephrite said.

"Do not play me for a fool! I know what people are whispering behind their hands, what they are saying about your passionate love for that woman!"

"Lita…"

"No!" Lita turned away from him and inhaled a deep breath to calm herself. "Nephrite, if you refuse to relinquish your assignment then…..I cannot stay here anymore."

"What do you mean?" he stiffened, not once in their marriage had she ever acted in such a way. They had had many fights before, but never once had she ever walked out on him.

"Perhaps some time apart would do us both some good," she said. She refused to look at him, she didn't want him to see the hurt in her eyes. Strong hands grasped her and forced her to turn around and look at him.

His eyes had darkened and his anger was obvious to her, "Lita there is nothing between Trista and I."

She broke from his grasp and reached up and touched his cheek, "If that is true then come away with me, leave this all to Rei and Cole, let this pass us by."

Nephrite looked away from her and then sat back down, he rested his hands on his knees and sighed heavily. "Lita there is no tension between us but…..there are things that I must know. Things that only she can tell me."

Lita sat down next to her husband, "Even if costs you me?"

Nephrite's head snapped up to look at her, "Would you leave me?"

"Would you?"

"No…." he said breathlessly. However saw the look of question in his eyes and she knew that even though he said those words with all of his soul, even he was not sure of what he would do.

She leaned over and grazed his lips with her own, "My love, I cannot stay here, not while she is here, not when I am so confused and….."

There was silence between them, "where will you go?"

"To Mina's," she said. Nephrite looked at her and raised an eyebrow, "Though you disapprove of her attitude she is still my sister and the only relative that I have."

"You have Rei near, and Ami, and you could always go to our home," he said.

Lita leaned in and kissed his lips gently again, "I will go home, eventually, but I need to see my niece and Mina, though I know you cannot stand her, she is still my sister."

"She is a horrible selfish woman."

Lita smiled, "I am from the same blood as she."

"Sometimes I wonder about that," he said. A silence lapsed between them, Lita inhaled a deep breath and was about to say something when Nephrite reached out and clasped her hand in his. "I would never leave you."

Lita looked up at him after several moments she said, "I know." Then she leaned in and laid her head on his shoulder. "But I still cannot stay here with that woman."

Nephrite wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close, he inhaled the scent of her long brown hair and whispered, "I understand, as soon as I can I'll join you….I promise."

* * *

She jumped down from the high jeep and landed on the soft ground, she shut the door behind her and began walking towards the charred mess that used to be the Vampire compound. As she got closer she noticed that there was yellow tape surrounding it, to the normal human eyes it would look like ordinary caution tape. Her eyes were not human and saw all the invisible symbols written on the caution tape.

"They've taken every precaution," said her husband.

"Yeah," she threw her head back and inhaled deeply analyzing the scents. "I can't smell anything but the sand and the burnt wood. These humans knew that our sense wouldn't be able to track them in a place like this."

"Rei's official report said that they attacked to access our database, but her personal notes suggest that there is another reason behind it, she's not convinced that it was an attack on our database," he said.

"I agree, this is a simple living community they wouldn't really use their database and I'm sure that using it was more of a hassle."

"They tortured Serik though."

"That worries me as well, Serik had a lot of knowledge about things, not just our data base," she said. She brushed her newly cut bangs out of her face then reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt. She stared at the charred remains, "there's been blood split on this earth."

"What are you thinking?" he asked her.

"I think that we can no longer avoid going home," she said. She stood and looked at her husband, "Ready New York weather?" Her husband made a disapproving face and frowned, "Oh come now Darien I know you love all this warm weather but are you just dying to see our family?"

"Not particularly," he said. He looked over at his wife, she had cut her hair right before they had arrived. In the country, it was a completely different look than she had before, her beautiful blonde hair now reached just below her shoulders and she had thick side bangs. It made her look less like a Queen and more like a normal woman, truthfully he loved her new hair style, it made him hopeful that she was letting go of the past few months and moving forward.

"I'm sure they're dying to see us my love," she said.

"I am sure they are."

"Well then, let's give them a wonderful surprise."


	6. Chapter 5

Another update so soon after the last one! I am on a roll...maybe because the new chapter of bleach has come out and i have inspiration once more...

Ahh ICHIRUKI LOVE...

I do not own sailor moon or its characters.

Tell me what you think so far guys, what's going on in those little head of yours. What do you want more of, who do you want less of...what do you want explained...(mwhahaha i may not do this but i still want to know what you guys want to know)...does that make sense? anyways in the sublte way i am saying "REVIEW"!

* * *

Kain stood in front of the large black demon door, his stance casual, and his hands buried in his pockets. He had been staring at the symbols on the door thinking of how dangerous it was to have such a powerful creature constrained by such weak spells. He was a spell caster and he knew that he could amplify the incantations with the touch of his hand, but as he stared at the dark door he knew it would be a mistake to touch it.

"Are you scared of that thing?" asked a voice behind him. He turned to look at Taiki walking towards him.

"If you're not scared of that thing then you're a fool," Kain said turning back to look at the door.

Taiki stood next to him staring at the door as well, "Seiya thinks that if we put to many spells on the door it will anger her."

"Sometimes I think Seiya doesn't really want to keep her chained down," Kain looked at Taiki from the corner of his eye. "Where is the young tyrant master?"

"In his room, it's another anniversary," Taiki said with a sigh.

Kain stretched his arms behind his back casually, "Really? Which one? I know it can't be about her or he would have been wallowing for the past few weeks."

Taiki glanced sideways at Kain, "The anniversary of his father's death."

"Ahhh no wonder he's been agitated lately," Kain said.

"Yes…..Kain…"

"Have the preparations been made for out next move?"

Taiki narrowed his eyes at Kain, "Yes we have prepped the troops and given them their instructions. We should be able to proceed on schedule."

Kain nodded and yawned, "Good just as soon as Master Petulant comes out of his safe haven we can start." He turned and started to walk back down the hall when Taiki suddenly grabbed his arm and stopped him. Kain waited for Taiki to say something, the silence between them grew until finally Kain ripped his arm from Taiki's grasp and walked away without a word.

Taiki didn't move as waited for Kain's footsteps to fade away, he looked over the top of his glasses up at the door. A high pitched giggle floated from behind the door, "So that is your wish…I see how pathetic you are…"

Taiki glared once at the door and then turned and walked back down the hall ignoring the mocking giggled that followed.

* * *

Rei, Lita, and Ami sat together in Lita's bedroom. Four large suite cases sat near the door and next to Lita was another smaller bag. Ami sat next to her brown haired companion silent and still, she still couldn't believe that Lita was going to stay with Mina. She wanted to protest, to tell Lita that she would, as a member of the council, order Trista's departure. She could feel something ominous brewing and the three of them separating was probably one of the worst things that could happen. She opened her mouth but Rei beat her.

"This is bullshit," she said. She didn't yell or scream, her tone was calm and affirmative yet Lita and Ami could hear the anger in it.

"Rei I need to go, I can't stay here while Trista is here," Lita told her.

Rei crossed her left leg over her right, "I say we get rid of that meddling witch."

"Though I highly agree with you, you can't. You need a seer of her caliber her now, we haven't had a seer with her powers since Sofie and Astrid died," Lita said, she felt Ami shift uncomfortably next to her. Lita took Ami's small hand in hers and gently squeezed.

Rei didn't fail to notice the gesture, "Astrid and Sofie were two of the most powerful Seers in the last three centuries. Even my father wanted their power when we were at War." Rei looked up at Ami, "They were both good women."

Ami nodded and smiled, "Yes they were but unfortunately Lita is right. We can all feel something brewing, and your experience is proof of that, we need a Seer with as now more than ever."

Rei uncrossed her leg and crossed her arms over her chest, "Yeah…..part of me hates Seers though, always telling everyone their destinies and paths, if you ask me they should just keep what they know to themselves and let the world play out."

Ami smiled, "Yes part of my agrees, however they present a great opportunity over our enemies."

"Unless that little girl you saw was their Seer," said Lita.

Rei exhaled a breath, "If so the I'm a little intimidated, that kid was powerful and evil. We may need some help against her."

"Which exactly why, if nothing else, we need to keep Trista here close to Cole and Ami, and in direct contact with the council," Lita said.

"Your being awefully logical now," Rei said raising an eyebrow. "Calmed down a little have we?"

Lita glared, "I admit that I was a tad bit angry when I found out that she was staying here but now that I've thought about it I understand why Cole needs her here."

"And yet it's still making you leave."

Lita looked at Rei, "I hate it too but…"

Suddenly Ami's phone began to ring, she reached into her pocket and answered. "Hello?"

The person on the other end talked very quickly, the conversation only last about a minute before Ami hung up and stood. "The council is convening via satellite, they want you there Rei."

"Great exactly what I need right now another lecture from Caleb."

"They're saying it's something about Serena and Darien," Ami told her.

Rei jumped to her feet, "Well let's get down there!"

Ami turned to Lita, "You'll wait to say goodbye wont you?" Lita nodded, "Alright we'll be back as soon as we can be."

Lita watched as they left the room, she waited for several minutes before moving. Standing she began looking around the room making sure that she had everything that she needed. She was in the bathroom looking through the draws when she heard a sound from her bedroom. Lita leaned out of the bathroom and let her eyes scan the bedroom. She saw nothing and none of her things were out of place so she returned to the bathroom. However it wasn't long before she heard something from her bedroom again. Turning off the light in the bathroom Lita looked in the bedroom again. Nothing once more greeted her, however she felt a cold breeze from her balcony.

Looking over she saw that the window was open, she cautiously walked towards the balcony and swept the curtains aside. No one was on the balcony, feeling a chill that had nothing to do with the cold seep into her. She pulled the balcony doors close and locked them. She turned back around and jumped.

Sitting on her pile of luggage was a young child wearing a long sleeved black dress and leggings, her hair was straight and cut to her shoulders, her eyes were hidden behind her long bangs, and on her face was a wide smile.

"Did I scare you?"

"Who are you," Lita demanded.

"Hehe it doesn't matter right now, I'll tell you later though," the little girl said. She was powerful Lita could tell that, but she didn't have an ominous aura around her. "So you're the one who he chose?"

"What are you talking about?" Lita asked.

The little girl tilted her head, "Your husband, so he chose you instead of her huh."

"What business is it of yours?"

"It's all my business, I know everything, why you and your sister don't get along, why Ami is wary of that hunter, why Nephrite can't leave Trista, why Cole can't love again, why Gabriella longs for a unrequited love, why the King and Queen are so distraught, and even why the little orphans wants revenge so badly. I know everything, I know everyone, I know all players, and I know what's going to happen….to all of you."

Anger boiled in Lita, if the little brat knew so much why wasn't she using her knowledge to help them. "You can't know everything!"

The little girl stilled, "What do you mean?"

"I grew up in the age of Sofie and Astrid, I heard their prophecies and their visions, but what they always said was 'The future is never certain, nothing is certain.' So there's no way that you could know everything."

The little girl smiled and let out a bubbly laughter, "Hahaha Oh you are interesting, I can't wait to meet you either! You're right guardian the future is never on set path, you are smart!"

Suddenly the little girl vanished before her eyes, Lita turned around looking for any sign of the girl in the room, but she was alone. Lita sat down on the bed and exhaled, 'You are one of the more interesting ones…..' came a whisper from the shadows.

* * *

"The King and The Queen have been missing for how long?" yelled Caleb.

"Almost three weeks now," Ami told him calmly. She stood in front of a large video screen monitor next to Cole, Rei behind them silent. The long hall they stood in was dark to give them a better view, but they could all hear the faint typing of keyboards and the low murmurs from the rest of the occupants of the room. Anthony, Caleb, and Lucius stared back at the three from their perspective monitors.

"Three weeks and you haven't told any of us!"

"We felt that they needed their privacy," Ami said.

"Our comrades are being hunted down and murdered, and you thought that you would let them have their vacation!"

Caleb opened his mouth to yell again but Lucius interjected, "Calm yourself old friend." Caleb exhaled a long breath and adjusted himself in his chair, his jaw was tense from trying to hold in his words. "It is understandable that the King and Queen would need some time to themselves after what just happened, but it is most important that we get in contact with them."

"We know that! We've been searching since we lost contact," Rei said.

"Well apparently you haven't been looking hard enough!" yelled Caleb again.

Ami looked down and saw Rei clench her hands she opened her mouth and Ami too moved to stop Rei from talking, however they were both interrupted by another voice.

"Oh give them some credit Caleb, we used all of our best antics to keep them ten steps behind us," said a voice from behind them. Suddenly there was a chaotic shuffling from all in the room, chairs were pushed back as men and woman stood to bow, and papers were dropped out of shock and panic.

Rei and Ami shared a glance then the two of them and Cole bowed respectfully. "That's enough thank you very much," Serena said as she and Darien walked towards the trio.

They straightened up and looked at their King and Queen. Darien had his normal blank expression on his face, his hair was a little longer, and they all noticed that he didn't look as exhausted as he had before, nor as menacing. Rei noticed that Serena had cut her hair into a new style and she was thinner, she had a faint smile on her face, but the three friends standing before her knew it was a counterfeit mask.

Serena looked around the room at everyone who had stopped their work, most were bowing politely some were pressing their foreheads to the ground. "Though your welcome is appreciated I would appreciate it even more if you would all get back to work," Serena said.

There was shuffling and many murmurs of 'Welcome home,' 'Thank you,' and 'You're looking well.' Serena ignored them and she stepped between Rei and Ami to look at the other council members.

"We understand that our absence caused you some grief and we are sorry that you had to endure such unnecessary stress," Serena felt Darien step up next to her. "However there were things…..that needed to be take care of."

"It is understandable and there is no need for apologies My Lady," said Lucius with a polite bow of the head.

Serena smiled at him, "Thank you, and though we have been gone we are not completely unaware of what's been going on." She looked to Darien and allowed him to explain.

"After Rei's initial investigation into the Malaysian compound we did our own type of investigation, we made many of the same conclusions as Rei. We also agree with the Princess' theory about the Humans trying to attain information." Darien took a portable disk drive out of his coat pocket and handed to a nearby computer analyst. In seconds all the information that he and Serena had gathered was displayed on all of the screens in front of them, including Serik's autopsy.

"We have also theorized that the attack may have been to cover something up, we believe that the attack on the Malaysian compound was to attain Serik," Serena said.

"What evidence do you have of this?" Caleb asked.

"None almost no supporting evidence, only hypothesis. And even if it's only a guess we still want Rei and her associate team to look into it," Serena turned around to look at her sister. "Is that satisfactory?"

Rei smiled and nodded, she knew that as soon as Serena and Darien returned things would get rolling. There wouldn't be any more political bullshit, just orders and missions that would need to be fulfilled.

Serena and Darien talked with the council for several more minutes before terminating the connection and turning to their friends. "You really need to retrain your operatives Cole, they did such sloppy work that dodging them was like taking a walk in the park."

Cole smiled, "Forgive me cousin but you must remember your husband is the mastermind of disguise and disappearance. How am I to compete with centuries of training in only a few decades?"

Serena smiled and reached out her hand, she patted his cheek. "Dear cousin….I have higher expectations for you."

Rei snorted, Serena looked at Rei and took a step forward, "And you Princess Rei….well done you're notes were able to help us during _our_ investigation."

Rei made a very enunciated bow, "Thank you your majesty I am glad that I could please you." She stood back up and her smile slowly softened to a sadder one, "It's good to see you Serena, you look…..better."

Serena nodded, "Yes I feel better as well. However I am tired," she turned to Darien, "Are you going to stay here?"

Darien gave a curt nod, "I have a few things that I want to discuss with Cole and then I want to round up Jadeite, Zoicite, and Nephrite."

Serena nodded, "Ami walk with me?" Ami bowed respectfully to Darien and then joined Serena.

Rei turned to her brother, "Tell me how is she?"

"Better, she's sleeping more, her body is adjusting and healing, but her spirit isn't the same," he told her.

Rei nodded, "She has her walls up." Rei turned to her brother, "I wasn't able to say it before, but I am very sorry Darien, for you and her."

Darien turned and looked at the blank monitors, "I don't need your condolences right now Rei, what I need is for you to take your team and figure out what's going on. Why these humans are attacking and what they got from Serik."

Rei stared at her brothers back, he wasn't saying the right words but she could tell that he too was grieving. Rei glanced at Cole momentarily, "I'm going to go talk to Serik's wife, she was away from the compound during the attack and she returned to New York after she was informed about what happened. She's currently staying in the city and I think that by talking to her I may find out if there was anything suspicious happening in the last few weeks."

"Also find out how a human infiltrated their ranks," he said.

"Yes brother," she turned around and then stopped, "I also have something else to tell you when I get back."

"Tell me now."

"I cannot it is a private matter and I will not speak of it in public, when I return I will speak with you."

"Fine."

Rei then left Darien and Cole. "Serena has anger inside of her."

"Yes I know, no matter how much she trained she allowed her anger and pain to cloud her," Darien said. There was a silence between them before Darien spoke again, "In her dreams she would call out the names of those who died in the War, as if they haunted her. Her brother's name especially."

"Serena had a tense relationship with him, it was complicated and messy, but she was very affected by his death."

"She called out for her father….and Astrid…..and Sofie," Darien said.

"Yes that is natural, trauma triggers other traumas."

"Cole she told me a little about her brother however…."

"She doesn't talk about him at all, never. She wouldn't even talk about what happened the night he died we had to find out everything from the investigation. Either she's still in denial about it or she's completely blocked it out of her," Cole said.

"I feel helpless once more, how am I supposed to save her when she won't let me in," Darien said his face impassive.

"You are still a young couple, for humans two decades is a long time, for us it's the blink of an eye. Give her time perhaps she'll open up after being home….about her brother and…" Cole stopped his eyes suddenly noticing something on the screen behind Darien's head.

Darien noticed his alarm and turned around, "What?"

Cole strode over to the computer and pointed at one of the technicians at the computer, "Enhance that image." The computer technician typed several keys on the board and the picture was enhanced.

Darien followed Cole and stood next to him examining the picture. "What is this?"

"It's the footage from one of our coven's in Norway that was attacked several days ago," Cole turned to the technician, "Rewind it back two minutes and then play it forward in slow motion."

The screen was rewound and then played forward for several seconds there was a peaceful scene of a stone courtyard. "Slow it down second by second," Cole said. The technician did and the footage began to slow even more. After several moments Cole yelled to freeze the screen, the technician did.

Darien stared at the screen but saw nothing, "What are you looking at?"

Cole pointed to the bottom left hand of the screen, in the corner almost completely hidden was a person's head, however the person was very small. "Pull this up and lighten the coloring." The screen reacted, after lightening it several shades Cole motioned for Darien to come look. He pointed, "Does that look like a bow to you?"

Darien stared at the spot where Cole was pointing, it was fuzzy but the shape was obvious. On the back of the persons head was a large bow tied into the long dark hair. "Who is that?"

"Judging from the height and size of the head it's a child, however this coven didn't have any children, it was a training facility for warriors, there is no reason a child would be here," Cole said. "However Rei did mention something…." Cole told Darien about Rei's experience and waited for his King's reaction.

"This child could be a powerful ally to our enemy, we need to look over all the other footage and see if there is anything else," Darien said.

"Yes I agree."

* * *

"Lord Seiya there is someone here to see you," said Kain. He stood in front of Seiya's bedroom door, silence answered him. "Sir it's important that you meet with our guest."

The door was suddenly thrown open and Seiya's disheveled face appeared scowling. "Didn't I tell you that no one was to disturb me today!"

"Sir I….."

Seiya's hand connected with Kain's face, the sound resonated in the empty hallway made of stone. "No excuses I gave you an order!" He turned and slammed the door behind him.

Kain rubbed his face and frowned, his master was quickly annoying him. He turned and walked back downstairs to where their guest was seated. Walking back into the room he glared at everyone who even glanced at the red palm print appearing on his face.

"I'm sorry but he refuses to see you," Kain said. Their guest was sitting on the couch in front of him. Her short legs dangled over the edge, her dainty hands were folded over her simple purple dress.

The dark haired child smiled "I figured as much."

"If you would only come back tomorrow I'm sure he would be in better shape to meet with you," he said.

"That's unnecessary," she said standing to leave.

Kain moved in front of her and attempted to stop her, "I know that he will value your help. Please don't be so hasty."

"Help?" she said. "You foolish human, I wasn't coming here to offer my assistance to you and your foolish Lord. I came here to warn you."

"Warn us?"

"Yes, to warn you about what you are about to do." Kain stared at her for such a young child he could sense a lot of power from her. "You know as well as anyone else in this house how dangerous that demon is. I know you want to kill it, I can see it in your eyes. You're afraid of what Seiya is doing."

"Seiya is….."

"Is losing his mind to insanity," she finished for him. She stared up at him, her gaze was hypnotizing. "Picking a fight with the Vampires is dangerous, do you really want to start a War like this? Do you really want to risk your lives?" Kain stared down at her, "And even if the Vampires don't eliminate you don't you think that the Demon will be furious as soon as her contract is up?"

"She wants to help us…"

"No she doesn't she wants to kill you all," she said. Her eyes shifted around the room. "She is not here…..not now….." She looked back up at him, her eyes clouded over as she stared up at him, "Your demise will be tragic."

"Kain?" Kain turned around to see Taiki standing in the doorway, "Who are you talking to?"

Kain turned back around to see that the girl was gone. He felt a chill reverberate through him, "She was….." Suddenly there a blood curdling scream that echoed through the entire house. The demon had returned from her mission, and upon hearing her scream of dissatisfaction he knew he had not hallucinated the visit from the Seer.

Kain turned around again to see Taiki holding his hands to his ears trying to block out the screaming. "What is wrong with her?"

Kain smirked, the Seer had moved her piece perfectly, "She just missed her rival, I'm sure she disappointed.

* * *

The cold water poured over her chilling her skin and blurring her vision. Her blonde hair hung low in her eyes hiding her tears. She had pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She let out a breath and water sputtered from her lips. She tried to stop herself crying but unfortunately the emotions were overwhelming. Being here in this house, being home so soon after such a tragedy, she didn't know how to handle it.

Serena buried her face into her knees and let her sobs break through. She didn't know how long she sat there before she felt strong clothed arms encircle her and pull her against a warm body. She smelled her husband over all of the chemicals in the bathroom. She wrapped her around Darien and pushed her face into his shirt, which was becoming soaked.

He didn't say anything just let her cry, she felt him move and one of his arms reached up to turn the water to warm. The instant shock from freezing to warm made her sick prickle for a while and then stop.

"Darien…"

He shushed her stroking her wet hair from her face, he pressed his lips to her forehead. He had been waiting for this, she had been strong the entire time they had been coming home, but he had sensed something off. Anticipating his wife moods he had come upstairs right after his meeting with Cole and the council. Upon entering the room he knew his fears had been confirmed, the room was dark and nothing had been touched. He heard the shower and knew that his wife was there. As he had pushed the door open he saw her sitting under the shower naked and shivering. Her small body clutching herself as if for life.

"Darien….."

"Serena if you don't want to be here we can leave, we can stay in the city, we can go somewhere else and have Cole run this….."

"No!" she stiffened against him, "We need to be here, we need to help, and they need us here."

"Serena I don't give a damn about what they want," he pulled away and looked down into her reddened eyes. "My concern is you, do you want to be here?"

She hesitated for a moment and then nodded, "We have to face it, we have to move on…we have to face a life without her."

Darien tightened his grip on his wife, "Are you sure?"

Serena nodded once more, "Yes I'm sure. Astrid would say to keep moving, so would brother, and…." He felt her smile faintly, "and father would tell me to stop crying and be a leader."

A smile touched the contours of Darien's mouth, "Yeah he would. So we stay?"

Serena nodded, "Yeah we stay and we move forward, without…without…."

Darien hugged her tighter to him and cut off her final words, he knew Serena couldn't say it yet and he couldn't blame her. In his heart too there was a missing piece.


	7. Chapter 6

"What do you wish to attain from this woman?" asked Malachite as he stepped out of the driver's side of the silver Lexus and shut the door.

"Tula is Serik's wife," Serena said climbing out of the car. She shut the door behind her and reached behind her to check that her gun was secure in its holster. "We are here to question her and perhaps find out why the human assassins tortured her husband."

Malachite glanced over to Serena, "I don't understand however why you decided to come instead of Rei my Queen."

Serena glanced up at the large apartment building in front of them, the black windows reflected the city, and the dark clouds overhead. They had pulled onto a side street and passed through a gate to park in front, even now Serena could sense the eyes and security cameras on them. "I needed something to distract me," she said looking up and around at the two other buildings that loomed above them.

"Taking on missions and entering the field is not a good distraction my Queen it only puts you in danger," Malachite said.

"Yes yes I understand but what's life if you're not going to take a few risks," she said as she started walking towards the front doors, her boots echoing around the alley with every step. She pulled open the glass door and walked up to the front desk, she stopped and smiled at the young man sitting at the desk.

"Hello young man," she said.

"Your…..your…your…." he stuttered trying to speak.

"Highness?" Serena supplied.

"Your highness…." The boy swallowed nervously, "How can I be of assistance to you?"

"We need you to tell us which room Tula Nesverkat is in," she said.

"Yes ma'am right away," he said as he started furiously typing at the computer in front of him.

Serena turned around and looked at Malachite, he was standing completely straight, his arms held behind his back, and his chin held high. His grey shirt and black coat were pristine, starched, and cut perfectly to fit his body. As she stared at him she wondered how he and Mina were faring after almost two decades of marriage. He caught her staring at him, he looked at her but his face didn't change. She wondered if it did, in the few times that she had interacted with him she had always found him to be a stoic man, the complete opposite of Mina.

"She is on the seventh floor ma'am, room 703," the young man said. "Would you like me to inform her that you are coming?"

"No that's not necessary" Serena said smiling at the young man. "Thank you for all your help." With a nod she turned and walked towards the elevators on the far side of the lobby, Malachite following close behind. She pressed the up button and waited several long moments in silence. They entered the elevator and stood in an uneasy silence as it slowly moved upwards.

"So…how is your wife?" Serena asked without looking at him, in the doors reflection however she saw him glance over at her and then forward.

"She is fine, she has been quiet upset that she is being placed under house arrest, but she is coping with it," he said.

"And your daughter? How is she coping with being placed under house arrest?" Serena asked. Once again she saw Malachite glance over at her, he hesitated in answering the question and she understood why. "If I didn't want to know I wouldn't have asked," she said.

"Andromeda doesn't exactly understand why Mina has been so upset and she has only begun to notice that they haven't left the grounds in a while," there was another long pause between them before he spoke again. "However I think she likes having her mother close to her, Mina too often wastes her time with the socialites. I must confess that I have also enjoyed having her around, the three of us are not together often because of my work."

"Make time to be with them Malachite," Serena said her voice now somber.

Malachite looked at her, "My Lady?"

"Make time to be with your family whenever you can, I remember the strain between my father, brother, and I it weighs on me even now…You never know how dear your family is until they are gone and it is when you cannot say the things you wish to say that you realize how precious the time you have is. We are called immortals but we both know that even we can die, even with our extended life spans time is still too short." She looked up at him, the anguish and pain reflected clearly in her eyes. "Cherish every moment with them and make as many memories as possible."

Malachite gave a slight nod as the elevator stopped and the small ding resounded around them. The doors opened and Serena's face once again changed to the energetic and optimistic one that she had composed from before. Malachite watched her as she swiftly and silently went down the hallway to the third door. She turned and waited for him to join her, as soon as he was by her side she knocked on the door.

Several seconds passed before a large Vampire male answered the door. He had dark curly hair to his shoulders and an intricate sun tattoo on his forehead with swirling rays decorating the sides of his face. Serena assumed he was Tula's bodyguard, rumor was that Serik had never allowed his wife to go anywhere without a bodyguard whom he had selected for her. His eyes were cold as he stared at Malachite and Serena, but seconds later he recognized her face and his eyes widened. "Your highness," he said bowing with a fist over his heart, "We were told that a representative of your house would be coming, we were not expecting _you._"

"Yes well I wanted to conduct the investigation myself, to ensure that a thorough job was done," she said with a smile. "Is your mistress available?"

The bodyguard nodded and stepped aside for Serena to enter. "She is in the sitting room my Lady," he said as she passed by. She felt Malachite behind her as she walked down a long hallway towards an open room. The sitting room was decorated modernly with square couches set across from each other, a glass table between them. There was some abstract art on the white walls, and several small vases adorned circular tables. The only thing that was out of place was the highbacked wooden chair that Tula occupied. It was carved from white wood and the designs upon the feet and arms were intricate and tight spirals.

Tula stood when Serena entered the room, Serena noted that she was very beautiful, she wore a long blue dress with a sari atop her head her thick black hair peeked out around the edges, her skin was naturally brown, her eyes were a vibrant hazel. She bowed her head at Malachite then curtsied deeply to Serena.

"I am sorry for my state Highness, I wasn't expecting you," Tula said.

"Yes well I wasn't expecting you to be expecting me so it's of no concern, please let us sit" Serena said sitting down on one of the couches. Malachite sat down across from her on the opposite couch, Tula returned to her chair, and the bodyguard stood near the door. "You know why we are here," Serena said.

"Yes the investigation…." Said Tula, Serena noticed tears pooling in her eyes. She inhaled deeply and then straightened her posture once again regaining her composure. "The investigation."

"Yes….Tula is there any reason why Serik would have been singled out amongst those at the compound?"

"Serik was a powerful vampire, as you know my Lady, he was a strong leader and was often privy to classified information from the council," Tula said.

"Yes however there were several other men like this at subsequent compounds and yet they have not been singled out for…." Serena glanced at Malachite. She didn't want to upset Tula anymore so she waited several seconds before finding the correct wording, "For extensive questioning by the enemy."

"I can think of no other reason my Lady," Tula said.

"Had you been in constant contact with your husband?" Malachite shifted forward, his gaze upon Tula intense.

Tula glared at him, "I had been, we had spoken several times before the attacked happened."

"And yet you were not with him at the site?"

Serena glanced at Malachite, she knew some of the implications he was making, and she sensed that Tula did as well. "I was visiting family while my husband was establishing himself within the compound, he had just been transferred there and wanted to ensure that upon my arrival everything was secure and taken care of. Ever since pledging his loyalty to the King and Queen we have been constantly moving around, I desired to see my family before one again settling into a new environment."

"Had Serik said anything was out of the ordinary while there?"

"No all he spoke of was how uneventful the transfer was and how diligent all those who resided there worked and lived," Tula said.

Malachite opened his mouth again but before he could speak Serena cut him off. "Tula can you think of any other reason as to why Serik was singled out, any small thing, something he may have seen in passing, something noticed that may not have seemed significant?"

Tula stared at Serena for several moments before speaking again. "I don't think that it is of any significance but you are aware that my husband's field of study was demonology."

"I believe I read in his file that he had training in the field but I wasn't aware that he was still an active member of the Demonti," Serena said.

"He wasn't but he continued to keep watch over known demons and the network incase anything unusual happened, a rather morbid hobby he had, but a few months ago he did mention that something was off," Tula said. "He said that a demon had been reported missing from its incarceration."

Malachite and Serena exchanged glances, Serena looked back at Tula "Though that is interesting, demons break free and are often set loose often from their cages."

"Yes, I said the same thing, but he was more concerned he said that this demon had been incarcerated many years ago before the start of The War between Covens due to its malicious and sadistic nature. He believed it to be a dark demon from ancient times, the times of Christos."

"A spirit that old does peek my interest however I see no reason for alarm, like I said demons escape all the time."

"Yes but he said that the spell containing this demon were of the highest caliber. A human Priest, a Vampire Seer, a Lycanthrop Warrior, and another Demon were all blessed by several Holy Authorities, and all gave their lives to seal away this demon. Spells with kind of power aren't easily broken especially not from the inside."

Serena felt a chill brush across the back of her neck, as if a cold hand had touched her. She turned around and looked over her shoulder but saw nothing. "Madam?" Serena looked at Malachite then shook her head.

"That is interesting…." Serena stared at Tula for several more seconds and then stood, "Thank you for your help Tula, we look into the matter and we will inform you when our investigation is complete."

Tula stood at the same time as Malachite, she reached over and took Serena's hand. Malachite moved forward to restrain the woman but Serena waved him back. "My Lady thank you very much looking into this matter yourself, I cannot tell you how this has affected my family. Knowing that it is being handled by you gives me a great peace."

"I understand the loss of someone precious," Serena said "I will do all in my power to discover what has happened and to bring those responsible to justice." Tears ran down Tula's face, she brought Serena's hand to her lips and muttered something in an ancient language. Then she let Serena's hand go and curtsied once more.

* * *

"What is the Demonti my Lady?" Malachite asked once they had returned to the car.

Serena fastened her seat belt and stared out of the window, "The Demonti were a powerful order of Priests and Priestesses from the time of the Greeks. They conjured, controlled, monitored, and eliminated demons in the world who caused unnecessary havoc and chaos, they also imprisoned those who were too powerful to destroy. They were the only and are still the only, integrated religious force. Though all the churches will deny their existence on this one topic they work together to ensure that there is stability in the world."

"I had often heard that the Churches thought us to be demons ourselves," Malachite said, he started the car and began their drive home.

"They did for many centuries, however it was mine and Darien's great grand fathers who finally went the Churches and explained our existence. Since then they have mostly left us alone except when they need us to clean up their messes," she said the last part under her breath but Malachite didn't fail to hear it. "Even during the War there were Valcorian and Romulen agents within the Demonti order, they didn't agree with each other politically but they worked in tandem to ensure that greater evils didn't break free of their bonds and destroy all life."

"Do you suppose that this demon of Serik's has anything to do with these humans attacking out people?"

Serena leaned her cheek against her hand and stared out of the window, "Perhaps, perhaps not it may just be the ravings of a fanatic. I'll have Cole look into it when he can."

* * *

"Any information from the other Coven branches?" asked Darien. He and Cole stood behind a young woman who sat analyzing a video stream on the computer.

"No Sir we have just begun analyzing everything, and we have yet to receive video feed from several of the branches," she said typing furiously on the computer in front of her.

"Understood inform me when you have finished," Darien said, he and Cole turned away and began walking towards the doors at the other end of the room. Many of the young Vampires sitting at their desks had like streaming videos before them on their own computers, many were speaking in different languages into their headsets and phones. "I want the data analyzed as soon as possible," Darien told Cole.

"Do you want me to send it to the rest of the council after it has been looked at?"

"No I would like Serena and I look over everything before we present it to them." They opened the doors and went into the hallway, "Has there been any news upon the movements of the human factions?"

"None from what our sources tell us they had disappeared completely and there has been no change in any of the networks. They aren't buying supplies or searching out information at all" Cole told him as they ascended the steps to the second level.

"This troubles me, it makes me feel as if they are planning something big" Darien said.

"You should be troubled young King." Darien and Cole both turned on the steps to see Trista standing at the bottom. "The humans are going to move soon, I have not seen where they will attack but I feel that our Coven should be ready and on the highest alert."

"We are already on the highest alert," said Rei walking around Trista as she read from a large manila folder in her hand. "Every Coven branch, as well as our allies have been made aware of the situation, the entire Coven has been restricted to a curfew, movements in an out of cities are being monitored, and all the council members have been assigned a bodyguard to be with them at all times." Jadeite stood behind Rei and amused smirk on his face.

"I see your husband has returned Princess," said Trista.

"Yes he has, he is my bodyguard" Rei said with a smile she slipped her arm through his.

"It is most convenient to have your most precious one be also your protector," said Trista. Darien and Cole glanced at each other, the sparks between Rei and Trista crackled.

"Yes it's also wonderful to be married, tell me Trista have you ever been married, or known true love?"

"I have…many times."

"Well it cannot be 'true love', you see 'true love' happens only once when you find your other half, your soul mate, the one person you cannot live without," said Rei. "I find myself often hoping that those who have not known this pleasure will one day know what that feeling is, and I count my blessing and thank the gods that my dearest friend, Lita, has found her true love as well."

Trista glared at Rei, she opened her mouth to speak. "That's enough ladies," said Serena as she walked between them and up the stairs towards her husband. Malachite stood between Rei and Trista, and nodded in recognition to Jadeite. "We have bigger issues to deal with, those which do not included a Vampire bitch fight," she said. She kissed Darien and nodded at Cole.

"What did Tula have to say?" Darien asked taking her hand and leading her up the rest of the stairs. The rest of the group followed closely and silently behind them.

"Nothing that we didn't already know, she said that he was a powerful vampire leader, pledged loyalty to us, knew classified information about all the compounds," Serena said as they entered a long conference room. Serena and Darien took their places at the head of the table, sitting next to each other, while the rest of the group settled in around the long table. "Nothing that would have made him an exception target to the humans."

"The only thing that has caught our attention was Tula's reference to Serik's new obsession," said Malachite. The group all looked at him, with a confirming nod from Serena Malachite continued. "Tula made mention of the Demonti and Serik's past as many know he was a trained Demon watcher and hunter. What was striking was that several months ago Serik noticed the escape of a powerful demon from its confines."

"A demon?" said Cole leaning forward. "Wasn't it a demon that you encountered several weeks ago?" he asked looking at Rei.

Rei turned her Chair towards Serena and nodded, "While I was doing my investigation I had a…a very strange encounter." Rei glanced at Cole and then continued, "It was after seeing Serik's body I was leaving the morgue when a child appeared in front of me…"

"A child?" said Darien.

"Yes a young girl, she looked to be around six maybe seven, atleast the body was, her spirit was completely different, it was old, dark, and powerful….I've been around for a long time and I saw atrocities in the war, and I've met with some powerful demons before but…this girl was something different."

"Did she threaten you?" asked Trista her eyes staring intently at Rei.

Rei shook her head, "At first I thought she was trying to, hell I was almost sacred that she was going to kill me but at the last moment she changed and gave me a message….." Rei swallowed recalling the words. "She said, 'Fear nothing in the face of darkness, fear not the light nor the future, fear not life or death, walk your path with strong legs, walk as if you have never stumbled….then she told me to watch the Black Dragon."

The entire table was silent then suddenly Serena stood, her hair covering her face she muttered a swift "Excuse me," and then quickly left the room. Everyone stared after her confused, except Trista who was looking down at her hands.

"Is the Queen…." Began Malachite.

"Astrid used to tell us as children, to walk our paths with strong legs," Cole said. "She used to say that 'In order to continue towards the future that is yours you must never falter, you have strong legs use them to carry your forward.' I am sure that the reference has upset Serena."

"Astrid's death was a blow to all members of the Vampire world, she was well loved, but none loved her as much as Serena. Two decades is not time enough for a wound so deep to heal," Trista said.

Cole stared at Trista, "Agreed…you highness may I suggest that we postpone this meeting until later when the Queen is up to it?"

Darien nodded and stood, "Debrief Malachite and then inform me. We will talk later," the last part of his sentence directed at Rei.

They all stood and bowed their heads as Darien left the room to be with his wife. "Where is Gabriella?" asked Rei.

"I believe that she is still with Mina at our home, she was supposed to be relieved several nights ago but it seems that Andromeda has become quiet attached to her and she has extended her duties" said Malachite.

"Send someone to replace, despite her attachment to your child, I want her here with us she may be able to tell us more about the Demonti."

Jadeite turned to his wife, "Was Gabriella a member?"

"No but her adopted father was, after her parents died in the War Gabriella was taken in by a member of the Demonti and raised within their order and seeing as how the Demonti rarely share secrets with outsiders she's the closest thing we are going to get unless we send an envoy and an ambassador to them."

"Who was her father?"

"Serik."

* * *

The small child in the red dress sat at an old pianoforte, her fingers delicately dancing over the keys, her feet pressing the correct petals in time. Kain stood his hand on the surface, his eyes never leaving her face as she played. Once she was finished she folded her hands in her lap and continued to stare at the keys.

Kain clapped his hands together for her, "You play very well , even after not having being alive for so long."

She smiled up at him, "These hands are not mine but my spirit remembers the movements and the notes, before my parents died it was instilled into me, propriety and correct breeding. One of the requirements of the time was that I was supposed to learn music, arts, dancing, those things that you read about in Jane's novels."

"You were alive for a long time," he said.

"Not as long as others, but long enough to make my mark, to love, and see my beloved friend grow into adulthood." She began to play the instrument again, a soft relaxing melody.

A lengthy silence passed between them, "Tell me your name little one?"

She looked up at him and smiled, "I cannot do that Master Kain, despite the beliefs of the modern world I still hold true to my upbringing, giving a person your name gives them a power over you. If you were to know me, if I was to acknowledge a name then you would have a power over me, you could attempt to control me and that is something that I cannot allow."

"Because you wish to help your friends?"

"My most beloved family needs me, I spent years watching them tear themselves to pieces of a small inconsequential incident and now that they are at peace I will do whatever it takes to keep them there," she said looking down at the keys in front of her.

"Loyalty such as that…."

"Is born from love," she completed his sentence. "Tell me mast Kain do you have someone who you would give your loyalty to?"

He stared at her, he was sure that she was referring to his relationship to Taiki. "My loyalty is to Lord Seiya."

"Yes I understand that yet I would like to know why," she stopped playing the piano. "He forbids you to be with the man you care for, he despises almost everyone except himself, he dwells upon the past and cares nothing for the future unless he is contemplating revenge…." She stared up at him. "He will drive himself into a madness."

"He is doing this to protect our people…"

"Humans have long lived and protected themselves, Seiya uses your emotions to your families to create a heat in you. An unreasonable hatred."

"My mother was killed and turned into a Vampire," he said.

"Yes she was, and was that Vampire not executed for his crimes? Has not my King and Queen created a new government that watches over those and punishes the wicked?"

"Your King and Queen are Vampires they are biased."

"My Queen was raised to see things from all perspectives, it was instilled in her to look for what is right and just, not what is favorable, believe me I can attest to that," she said as she began to play the piano once more.

Kain stared down at the girl, if they had been on the same side he could see them as friends, he respected her opinion her thoughts, and though they didn't agree she was a good debating partner. "Little one…"

Suddenly she pushed the piano away from her with such force that it flew across the room and smashed into the wall. She stood up her hands in fists, blood now dripping from them. "I would suggest that you stop trying to befriend her Kain!" her voice had changed from a soft child's to a distorted evil.

"Are you jealous?" Kain said with a smile.

She looked up at him her eyes burning red, "I do not give a damn about your relationship with that bitch but you should take care if Lord Seiya was to see you as friends he may consider you an enemy, and you know what he does to enemies." She smiled wickedly up at him, "You're little boyfriend may not be as valuable to him as he is now."

Seeing his face changed she smiled and unclenched her hands, she brought her palm to her mouth and licked the blood. Then she smeared it across her face and began to laugh incessantly at him. "Poor little pathetic human, poor little broken heart….hahahahha."

"Shut up before I force you back into your cage," he said turning away from her to leave.

"I may be in a cage but at least I have the pleasure of fucking who I want….." she squealed.

Kain stopped at the doorway, "Maybe but I don't think Hotaru is in a cage anymore….is she."

Her scream shattered the mirrors and windows in the room as he walked away from her.

* * *

Serena stared up at the ceiling above their bed, breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath, Darien's head moving up and down on her bare stomach. She reached up and tangled her hands into his sweaty hair, he moved and wrapped his arms around her body and placed a soft kiss on her abdomen. She closed her eyes enjoying the feeling of being back in their own bed and having her husband within her.

Finally after several long silent minutes Darien looked up at her, his chin resting on her stomach still. "Do you feel better after letting out some tension?"

"I have to admit that I do," she said with a soft smile. He kissed her stomach once more and then climbed up her body to lay next to her. She turned her back into his chest not removing herself from his embrace. A silence lapsed again before she spoke, "I'm worried about all this Darien."

"I know as am I."

"I fear that this will turn into an all out War once again," she said. "It was only a short while ago that we made peace and there are still so many wounds that have yet to heal between the people, if we were challenged would we be able to survive?"

Darien rested his chin on her shoulder, "Healing takes time…the best way to forget old pains is too busy yourself with something other than dwelling on them. An altercation between our Coven and the humans could further unite our families."

"Or it could drive them apart," she whispered. Darien tightened his grip around her.

"You have made strides with our people that no other Queen ever dreamed of doing, the people see this, they respect and love you," he said kissing her neck.

"I would rather them respect and love each other," Serena said tracing his arm with her fingertips. Another silence passed between them, "You weren't just speaking of our people were you?"

Darien sighed, "No I wasn't."

"I don't want to forget her Darien," Serena said turning to face him. He kissed her forehead, "You shall never forget her, just like you shall never forget your mother, your father, your brother, or Astrid."

Serena sighed and buried her face into his chest. They lay like that for several long moments until a banging on their door interrupted their solitude. Darien rolled out of bed and grabbed his long robe, tying the belt he walked out of the bedroom and through their private sitting room to the door. Serena heard his angry tone with whoever was disturbing them, she smiled her husband changed so quickly when faced with the public. She rolled out of bed and grabbed her own robe, she was in the middle of putting it on when Darien walked back into the room his face grave.

She paused her robe half on, "What is it?"

"There's been an incident," he said.

"What's happened?"

"Malachite and Mina's home has been attacked by the humans."


	8. Chapter 7

Heya guys! Hope you enjoy!

I do not own sailor moon or its characters.

* * *

"We're reporting over fifteen casualties."

" Six are confirmed dead."

"The left wing of the house was destroyed."

"The rescue and recovery team is on route."

"The attack initiated twenty minutes ago."

"Who else was in the house, I need a confirmed roster."

"The security footage from the Coven mainframe was damaged we have no visual of what happened."

"What about the security footage from the town stoplights were any suspicious vehicles seen?"

"Zoicite is leading the medical team on route."

Serena stared at the men and women in the room running around with different reports and orders. Darien, Rei, and Cole stood in the center of the room; Cole was barking orders at a young woman sitting at a desk next to him, Rei was reading several reports while talking to Jadeite on the phone, and Darien was confirming with Zoicite that the medical team would be able to sufficiently handle the situation. Serena stood back and watched the chaos, people blurred past her and voices surrounded her, papers shuffling and phones ringing.

"Sir were getting questions from the Local Law Enforcement about the situation," a young woman said to Cole, who was now on the phone with someone.

Another woman came up to Darien and attempted to get an answer from him, "You Highness three other Covens Leaders are on the phone requesting a debrief on the situation."

A young man came up behind the first woman and attempted to ascertain Darien's attention while he was still on the phone, "Sir Council member Caleb is demanding to speak with you."

Serena stepped forward right as the three Council members got off the phone, "Tell the Local Law Enforcement that there has been a chemical spill, then inform Nephrite to shut down everything within a five mile radius of the house, no one goes in or out without our permission. Tell the three on the phone that as soon as we have information we will send it to them but for the meantime they need to ensure the safety of their own branches and keep everyone calm. Put Caleb on hold and someone will get to him when we have a moment, he won't be happy with that so tell him that when we have figured out what happened we will contact him, otherwise he can come down here and deal with everything himself." The group of people surrounding her husband, sister, and cousin glanced at each other and then began scrambling way to carry out their Queens orders.

Serena looked at Cole, "Seriously they're acting like a group of first month interns you really need to train you're people better Cole." Serena turned and walked from the room without another word.

The doors behind her shut, blocking out the sound of the frantic people behind them. In the main foyer of the hallway were several woman crying. An older looking woman was sitting on the steps sobbing, two friends sat next to her trying to comfort her. "My son….my son was stationed at Lord Malachite's house," she buried her face into her hands and continued to cry.

A young woman with dirty blonde hair was frantically dialing and redialing a number on her cell phone, as Serena walked by she stopped and looked down in shame, "Forgive me my Lady…it's just…my husband…."

Serena placed her hand atop the young woman's, "Don't be concerned with my opinion Leyla your husband is important to you, I pray that he is unharmed."

Layla nodded once and then pressed the redial number on her phone attempting to call her husband once more. Serena smiled at her and then walked down a hallway towards the back of the house. She passed several more crying woman and children, all attempted to show their respect by bowing to her but she waved them by and told them to take care of themselves and to have hope. She exited the house and went into the observatory garden, closing the door behind her, she sighed, finally there was complete silence.

The indoor garden was a separated from the outer garden, it was completely surrounded, and the climate was carefully controlled to create the perfect breeding atmosphere for the numerous plants within. The garden had been built around the same time that the house had, right after the Valcorian Romulen war, it was a garden that Serena had wanted; each plant, stone, statue, and fountain, was dedicated to someone who had died in service to their covens and families. She didn't turn on the lights instead she walked further and further into the large garden following the gravel path between the bushes, the only light was from the windows of the house and the moon above. She sat down at her favorite bench and looked skyward, the moon illuminated the clouds making them glow silver and bright stars twinkled brightly in the night sky as if they were winking at her.

She inhaled deeply, the artificial warmth of the garden carried the fragrance of the newly bloomed jasmine bushes around her. She leaned back on her hands and closed her eyes.

"A garden such as this can be convenient," said a velvety deep voice from behind her.

Serena turned around and saw Trista seated on a bench opposite her, her long green dress hiding her legs, her hands folded delicately on her lap, and her dark eyes focused on the Queen. Serena turned around on the bench and faced Trista, "It is, here I can have whatever season I wish here."

"And you wish for summer now, while the beauty of the autumn surrounds us?"

Serena raised her eyebrows and smiled in confirmation, they sat in silence for several more moments before Serena spoke again. "Did you know this was going to happen?"

Trista shook her head, "No whatever power these humans have it enables them to sometimes be shielded from my sight."

"Can you tell if they are alive?" Serena asked.

"The child and her mother?"

"And Gabriella."

Trista closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath, several seconds passed before the answered. "They are all….alive however Gabriella is….severely injured as is Lady Mina." Trista opened her eyes, "Your thoughts My Queen?"

Serena ran her hand through her hair, "I have many thoughts…Andromeda is alright though?"

Trista stared at her, "Yes the child is fine, a few minor injuries but she will be fine."

"Good." They lapsed into silence, the only sound came from the fountain in the far back corner of the garden.

"Do you think of your daughter my Queen?"

"Often," Serena looked away into the darkness of the garden. "She wasn't supposed to die, not like that."

"Vampire children are as fragile as human children," Trista said.

"She shouldn't have been, she was a Princess, she should have been strong….the world was ready for her," Serena said. "Sofie told me that she would change the world."

Trista was silent, tears dripped down Serena's face. Trista swallowed, "When I was young I was told by a powerful Seer that I was to marry a Valcorian General, a man with green eyes and dark hair."

Serena turned her gaze upon her, "But as you see I have never married that man, and I have no desire to marry. The art of seeing the future my Lady is as inconstant as the clouds above our heads, they may look as if they will rain but as soon as we plan for it they change and the sun shines. Visions that are at one time consider certainties can fade into the darkness and become shades of what could have been."

"My daughter should have been a certainty, she was wanted, her future was wanted!" Serena stood in anger.

"And your death was once a certainty as well my Queen, but that as we both know became a shade, though the loss of the Princess was a terrible blow….all things happen for a reason…and all pain has meaning."

"Tell me Trista what is the meaning of a child, and innocent child dying hours after her birth!"

"I cannot tell you that my Lady, no one but the all knowing knows that, only he knows why her blood was poison to her own body, only he knows what she wasn't meant for this world despite that fact that she was already so deeply cherished."

"My daughter died because of a disease that hasn't been seen in Vampires in over five hundred years," Serena rounded to face Trista. "Ask your all knowing what his purpose was for creating her if he was just going to take her from me!"

Trista stood, "One day you will be able to ask him yourself, but on that day I predict that it will no longer matter because you will be reunited with her and all else will fade away into nothingness." She bowed to the Queen and then turned and disappeared back towards the house.

Serena let out a shaky sob and collapsed onto the bench, she let her tears run down her face freely. She felt Darien reaching out to her; she knew he could feel her anguish, she felt him as he attempted to locate her. Before he could however she blocked their connection so she could remain alone.

She cried for several long minutes allowing herself to purge her emotions, when she finally settled down her sobs stopped and her tears became silent. Then they stopped all together. Composing herself Serena stood and wiped away the tears from her face. She took several breaths and then turned to return to the house, before she had taken several steps however the soothing trickle of the fountain stopped and Serena felt a sudden chill.

Feeling eyes upon her Serena turned back around and stared into the darkness. She heard a rustling of leaves, "Who is there?" When no one answered Serena took a step forward her boots crunching under her foot. Serena looked down and saw frost on the ground, the garden was becoming colder, the perspiration on the windows was freezing, and the plants around her were shriveling in the cold.

There was more rustling this time besides her, Serena turned "Who is that?...I know you're there!"

There was a child's giggle and then more rustling, Serena saw a flash of a red as the child ran deeper into the garden. "Wait!" Serena began running after her following her deeper into the garden. She suddenly came into a cleared area and saw a small dark haired child sitting on a bench.

The girl was tracing the words that were carved into the bench with her fingers, "Η Astrid ήταν η μητέρα βημάτων σας ήταν αυτή όχι." ((Astrid was your step mother was she not?)) The girl spoke to her in Greek.

Serena recognized the language, "She was my father's lover, and a dear friend."

The little girl didn't look up at her, Serena heard something scraping against the concrete, looking down she saw the little girl's sharp finger nail digging into the stone. "Φρόντισε για σας αφότου σκοτώθηκε η μητέρα σας." ((She cared for you after your mother was killed)).

"She did, she taught me many things, how to be a fair Queen and a good person," Serena could see her breath, as she spoke the room was continuing to get colder.

"Μια καλή γυναίκα, πάρα πολύ κακή την πηγαίνουν." ((A good women, too bad she is gone)).

"Who are you?" Serena saw the little girl smile.

"I your highness am someone who doesn't care about you," she giggled. "I am someone who could care less about who you are or what you're doing on this planet, but my 'master' desires to destroy you."

"Who is your master?"

"A human, a child of the dragon," she said.

"Why have you come here?"

The little girl smiled, she continued to trace the words carved on the stone, "To play with you. To show you that no matter what you do we can get anywhere and we can do whatever we please," she looked up at Serena her eyes glowing a bright fire red, Serena gasped and took a step backwards, the little girl giggled. "You're so pathetic little Queen, you can't eve stand on your own two feet without your mentors around you propping you up. How sad, I don't know why we fear you, you're so pathetic." She stood from the bench and began to walk towards her smiling, "You still look to a dead woman for guidance, pathetic, she can't help you not now not ever!" She stopped and her face changed, her eyes faded from red to a pale silver color, the little girl cried out and then suddenly her eyes were red again, "You can't keep me away!" she screamed. Then there was a sudden flash of light from behind her and whiteness enveloped Serena right as the little girl opened her mouth and screamed.

Rough hands grabbed Serena by the shoulder, "Serena wake up!" Serena opened her eyes, Darien was leaning over her. She looked around, she was lying on the bench, the garden was still warm, she could hear the trickle of the fountain, and the plants were all still lush and growing. She sat up, "What happened?"

"You fell asleep," he said reaching out to touch her cheek. As soon as his fingers touched her she felt warmth, "Serena you're freezing." He took her hands into his and began to rub them, she hadn't noticed it but they were numb, her entire body was numb from cold. "What happened?"

"I don't know….how long have I been asleep?"

"I don't know but you left us in the situation room an about ninety minutes ago," he said.

Serena looked around, "I….I…I need to see something." She stood and walked the path that she had walked in her dream.

"Serena?" Darien followed her as she pushed through the plants to an open area on the path. She stopped in the clearing and stared at the bench before her with a stoic expression; she sat down and traced the engraved words with her fingers. "Serena?"

"This garden do you remember when we built it," she whispered.

"You wanted it as memorial, for every piece of it to pay homage to someone who had died."

"In my dream that little girl was sitting on this bench, talking to me about Astrid," she said.

"Serena?" She pointed down at the words on the bench. He look down, on the surface of the bench was an engraving.

_Lady Astrid Romulus_

_Consort to King Darus II, beloved friend and mentor._

_May your soul protect and watch us all._

However the last line of the engraving had several angry scratches on it, "Serena?"

"She said that I couldn't stand on my own, that I still look to a dead woman for guidance," she said. Serena stepped forward and touched the defiled memorial.

"My love?"

"Darien summon me a member of the Demonti," she turned around to face him her eyes blazing with fire, "I wanna nail this bitch to a cross."

* * *

Taiki sat as his laptop typing furiously, the glare from the screen reflected in his glasses. He sighed once and then leaned backwards, reaching under his glasses he rubbed his eyes. "Taiki." He looked up and saw her standing in the doorway the light from the hallway illuminating her auburn hair.

"What is it Ashlee?" he went back to his computer trying to ignore her.

"How cold you are my dearest," she said sauntering into the room and closing the door behind her. "How unkindly you greet your fiancé." She pushed herself up onto his desk and folded her legs; he glanced over and saw that she was wearing only a black teddy trimmed in lace with a matching robe. "And here I was coming to cheer you up," she said.

"I don't need you here to cheer me up," he said. "I have work to do."

"Work can be done at any time," she reached out and touched the top of his computer to close it. His hand darted out and clenched her wrist in his grasp.

"Do not touch my work," he said. They stared into each other's eyes for several moments and then he let her go, she withdrew her hand and clutched her wrist.

She looked down at him and then flipped her hair over her shoulder, "I only wanted to help."

"By distracting me?"

"I can be of some help," she said. Taiki ignored her still, "Taiki I know that you and I don't exactly want this marriage but…"

"But since it pleases our parents and Seiya then we will continue on with this charade," he said without looking at her.

"I do love you Taiki, even though you despise me," she said as she pushed from his desk and ran from the room her voice fighting back sobs.

Taiki watched as she slammed the door behind her, he sighed again then leaned back. "Love is one of the most interesting and mysterious things that this planet possesses." Taiki turned around in his chair and came face to face with the small girl in the red dress. "Love can transcend time, and boarders, and boundaries, even death."

"The greatest gift is to be loved," he said staring at her. Her eyes were a silvery color and the dark aura that surrounded her normally was gone. "I take it that your counterpart completed her mission."

"She did the damage that was need to do, but it won't do what she expected," the little girl said walked around the desk to sit down in one of the chairs in the corner. Because she wasn't tall enough her feet dangled over the edge; she held her bear in her arms and cuddle it as she stared at him. "My Queen isn't as weak as all of you think she is."

"She is a child who is follows her emotions," he said.

"Emotions are like instincts that can help or hurt us," she said.

Taiki stared at her over his glasses for several more seconds, "What did you want?"

"To warn you," she said "My Queen doesn't like being taunted and like I told your _true love_ it is unwise to go against her. Withdraw and give up this futile plan that Seiya has in place. You will lose more then you imagine."

"Seiya would kill us if we withdrew."

"And my people will kill you if you do not," she said.

"Well if I am going to die I suppose dying on the right side isn't all that bad," he turned back to his work.

"Who says you're on the right side."

* * *

Lita glanced over at the little girl next to her, Andromeda was clutching the soft grey teddy bear that was in her arms. Her blonde hair was tinged with pink from where blood had gotten on her. Lita saw her small shoulders still shaking from fear, she reached out and touched her shoulder. Andromeda looked up at her with eyes filled with tears.

"Is momma gonna be okay?"

Lita stilled, when the fire had been set Mina had done everything in her power to ensure that Andromeda was safe. She had shielded her from burning debris, and treaded barefoot over shattered glass to ensure that her child escaped with only a few injuries. When a fiery beam had collapsed Mina had quickly pushed Andromeda into Lita's arms and then pushed them out of the way taking the blow herself. It had pinned her at her abdomen, a young solider had lifted if from Mina but Lita hadn't failed to noticed the blood that was seeping onto her gown when they were outside.

"You know you're mother loves you very much correct?"

Andromeda nodded, "she doesn't always say it, but she does."

Lita smiled at her, "You are very smart my darling very smart."

Andromeda smiled weakly at her aunt, she looked down the hallway and saw her father striding towards her. "Papa!" she threw herself from the chair and ran towards him, he scoped her up into his arms and hugged her tightly.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded, "Momma protected me."

Malachite kissed his daughter's forehead and then turned to Lita who had stood up, "How is she?"

"She is still in surgery, Ami arrived right as they went in and took over herself because Zoicite was attending to the men still on site."

Malachite nodded, "Thank you for…."

"She is my family as well Malachite," Lita said.

He nodded, "Are you well?"

Lita smiled, "Mina protected both of us."

Malachite clutched his daughter closer to him, "What happened?"

Lita sat back down and stared at the floor for several moments, "We were all eating together when we heard noises outside. I went to the window to check and I saw several of the guards arguing and trying to contact the main gate. I could tell that something was wrong and so I told Mina that we needed to be prepared to leave. We left the dining hall together and then suddenly it erupted in flames, the guards bodies….they had set them on fire and then thrown them into the house.

"I heard the windows and doors locking and when I tried to get out of the house nothing worked, then there was gunfire from outside." Lita inhaled a deep breath, "The fires raged so high around us…and then…." She stopped.

"What?" he asked.

Lita glanced over at him, "I saw….I saw…."

"There was a little girl papa," Andromeda said.

"A little girl?"

"Yes, a little girl with brown hair."

"Rei's demon," Malachite said. Lita didn't answer.

"She attacked Gabby, she tried to claw out her eyes papa," Andromeda said, "She was scary." She buried her face into her father's shoulder and said no more.

"Lita?"

"Gabriella…that was her target…Gabriella."

Malachite nodded, he sat down next to Lita still holding Andromeda. Loud voices from down the hallway caught their attention. "Will you calm down!"

"I will not calm down Rei I want to see my wife, where is she?"

Lita glanced at Malachite, "Who is…"

"This is a hospital you need to calm the fuck down!"

"Rei!"

Nephrite and Rei rounded the corner glaring at each other, they were both walking quickly and out of breath. Lita stood when she saw them, they both looked up and saw her. Rei picked up her pace, "Thank God you're alright." When she reached Lita she pulled her into a powerful hug.

"Mina protected me," Lita said hugging her back, over her friend's shoulder she glanced at Nephrite. He seemed to have calmed down; she pulled back from Rei and gave her a smile.

She turned to her husband, "Nephrite…"

Before she could finish her sentence he had pulled her into his arms and crushed his lips against hers. He pulled back but kept her pulled against his chest, "You are coming home tonight, I am not allowing you out of my sight."

"Nephrite….this is…"

"I don't care what it is you are coming home and I am not allowing you anywhere near battle again," he said.

"Nephrite…"

"Lita."

"Excuse me." All members of the group looked as Ami stood before them; she was wearing blue surgical scrubs and a cap. "I thought you would want an update," she said.

Lita broke from her husband's embrace to face Ami, "Is she going to be okay?"

Ami smiled, "There was some internal bleeding that we repaired, and we wrapped her burns, she'll have to take it easy for a few days but she should be fine." Lita and Malachite both let out breaths of relief. "They're stitching her up and then moving her to ICU, you'll be able to see her very shortly."

Lita took Ami's hand, "Thank you."

Ami smiled, "We have to take care of family," she glanced over Lita's shoulder at Rei. "Even when they piss us off sometimes."

Rei rolled her eyes and then kneeled down to distract Andromeda.

Malachite stood "And Gabriella?"

Ami's face fell, "She's still in surgery."

"How serious were her injuries," asked Nephrite.

"The attack tried to claw out her eyes, then she stabbed her several times with a silver knife, and slashed her lips," Ami said. "She would have cut out her tongue had Lita not interfered."

The two men looked at the Brunette, "I pulled her off of Gabriella and then used a protection spell against her."

"I didn't know you knew spells," Malachite said.

"Basic incantations nothing serious," Lita told him. "Anyways I was able to fend her off for a while and then when she was about to attack me directly she stopped suddenly and this weird angry look came over her face…like she was hearing something that only she could hear. Then she smiled at me weirdly and disappeared."

"It was the girl?"

"Yes," Lita nodded.

"I have to get back into to assist with Gabriella's surgery but I'll inform you if anything changes," Ami said.

Lita nodded, "Good luck." Then Ami disappeared behind the door that led to the surgery wing. Lita turned to Malachite, "I think it would be best to take her home with me for now. The security's been increased and she needs to rest."

Malachite nodded, "I'll stay with Mina."

"When they release her you can bring her to our home, you are all welcome to stay as long as needed," Lita told him; Nephrite nodded behind her.

"Thank you both," Malachite kneeled down in front of his daughter, "Andromeda Mommy's still being taken care of by the doctors so I need you to go with Aunt Lita for now."

"But I wanna see momma!"

"Andromeda I need you to be brave like momma was alright, I need you to make sure that Aunt Lita is safe at home okay," he said staring into her eyes.

Andromeda glanced at her Aunt and Uncle then nodded, "okay." She threw herself into Malachite's arms and hugged him tightly; he stood and then handed her to Lita.

"I'll see you soon sweetheart be good for your Aunt," he told her. Andromeda nodded and buried her face into Lita's shoulder. "Thank you." Lita nodded then her and Nephrite walked down the hall and around the corner.

Rei flopped down into a chair, "That's the first person other than you who ever wanted to see Mina." Malachite glared at her, "What it's true, no one can deal with your wife."

Malachite sat down a chair down from Rei, "I remember a time when you two were quite close."

"Yeah that was before she broke my brother's heart, tried to seize the throne, and betrayed us to Diamond."

"That was a long time ago Rei, she was a different woman."

"Yeah yeah we all were different then," Rei said. "Sept you, you were always the same stoic man…until your daughter was born that is."

A silence lapsed between them, "The girl who attacked Gabriella."

"The same one I encountered, and possibly the same demon who attacked the other covens," Rei said becoming serious.

"Something's coming isn't it?"

"Yes something big is coming for all of us."

* * *

"The other one has made her move," said the small dark haired child from the back seat of a moving car.

The two women in the front seats glanced at her and then at each other. "She attacked another coven branch?" asked the blonde.

"No she attacked the home of a Royal General, Malachite Deneuve," the child said.

"Was anyone killed?"

"No she was after the Demonti man's daughter, Cole's Lieutenant. But she also went to taunt the Queen."

"The Queen?" asked the second woman, her hair was darker then her companions.

"She wanted to rile her up, scare her, make her fear them…it didn't work," the little girl smiled. "Drive faster I desire so much to meet her."

The blonde looked in the rearview mirror and then pushed the petal to the floor, the car surged forward.

* * *

Seiya threw a glass decanter at the wall, it smashed into pieces and the red wine dripped down the wall. "I wanted you to kill her!"

The little girl in the red dress glared at him, her eyes bright red. "You interrupted me in the middle of my attack and demanded that I go and scare their Queen. I have to follow your orders."

"My first order was for you to kill that Demonti bitch!"

"And then you gave me an order to immediately go and mess with their Queen," she said "You have to be more specific in your orders."

"Don't play games with me you little hell whore!" he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her towards him "You forget that I hold your leash."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "For now."

"Forever!"

"You are human you will not last forever, just like the bonds that held me would not have lasted forever," she smiled at him wickedly.

Kain sighed as he watched the couple's argument from his place on the armrest of a large couch, "Can't you just go back and finish the job?"

"Fool, they're prepared now, they've protected her with spells and seals," the child screamed at him.

Kain stood and placed his hands in the pockets of his suite pants, "What I want to know is how that little Vampire housewife was able to fend you off with basic spells."

"Because that other fucking whore inside of me helped her fuel them, she held me back and infused that little bitch with her power."

"If you can't even control you're other half how are we supposed to rely on you to take care of the rest of the targets you've been assigned to?"

"Shut you fucking face you sodomite! I don't need lectures from you and you're filthy mouth I can kill every single one of those stupid demon hunters," she said.

Kain smiled at her, "Maybe but you can't take them all on together, you have to sneak around and pick them off one by one like a pathetic little assassin."

She growled at him, "Enough!" yelled Seiya. "Kain I want information on the Royal family do you have it?"

"Yes, we just received the initial files from our source," he said. He threw a thick folder on the table in front of him.

Seiya sat down and opened it, he held up the first picture, "Princess Rei Valcoria, married to one of the King's Generals. Since the King and Queen have no heir if anything would happen to them she would be next to inherit her brothers throne, she is also a member of their council."

Seiya threw the picture to the side after studying it for several moments, he picked up another. "And him?"

"Cole Valois, cousin to the Queen, he too is a member of the council but he is also the highest ranking general in their military. He also commands the Vanguard, he is the closest living relative of the Queen and if she was to die he would inherit her throne."

Seiya put down his picture and picked up another, after going through several pictures he finally came to the last two. "That is King Endymion, or King Darien as he is called by his close family. He married Serenity two decades ago and through them they joined their Covens and created a Vampiric system of government. Technically Endymion is the Valcorian ruler while his wife is the Romulen ruler, however they rule together as if they were one body. Together they established the Council, which is made up of both Romulens and Valcors, the council has the power to overrule the King and Queen with a unanimous vote. Most of the time Endymion and Serenity leave the running of their government to the council and sit as figure heads who lend support. Before he married his wife Endymion was known for his sadistic and defiant nature however in the past two decades many have said that he has softened and become more merciful and understanding."

Seiya threw his picture to the side with a scoff, he looked down at the last picture and froze. "My Lord?" asked Kain seeing his reaction.

The little girl let out a low laugh, Kain looked over at her, she was smiling evilly at Seiya. "Kain who is this?"

"That my lord is Queen Serenity the…."

"Silence," hissed the girl.

Kain glanced at her then looked over at Seiya, he was staring down at the picture his hands shaking. "Aurora," he whispered.

Kain glanced at the girl again, her smile was still in place, "My Lord."

"I want her," Seiya said.

"Sir?"

"I want her," he looked up at the demon.

She smiled at him wickedly, "It will cost you greatly."

"I don't give a damn, I want her! Alive…if you bring her to me I will ensure that the little seer bitch is yours."

"As you wish _master."_

* * *

Hey guys I'm hoping that you all enjoying everything. I do want to pose something of you all, I have a few new characters that I'm brining into the upcoming chapters, some are imporatant characters others are just kind of cameo's in the ongoing plot. What i need is some name idea's I've taken a few from those people who have reviewed and who seem to follow the story, and I hope that no one is offended by that. If so just tell me and I and I will change them no problem, however if you would like to contribute, send me a name and kinda a general idea of what the character looks like and I'd be happy to include them in my story. Like i said some will be more important than others, which is kinda just the way the jenga tower falls, but I'm giving everyone the option. I hope you submit some and I hope you all continue to review.

Love always

DMA


	9. Chapter 8

The room was dark but beyond the walls she could hear gunfire and the sounds of battle. She recognized the room, it was her bedroom, from when she had been a child, when she had lived in her father's mansion. She heard sniffling coming from under the bed, she knew who was there, it was herself, her younger self. Often as a scared child she would hide under the bed, hoping that the world around her would vanish and leave her alone. She closed her eyes and became that little girl under the bed hugging her teddy praying for safety.

"Serena! Serena where are you!" She could hear his muffled voice calling out to her. "Serena! Serena!" she recognized her brothers voice but fear paralyzed her, she couldnt cry out, she didnt want to. She hugged her bear tighter against her chest and clenched her eyes trying to block out the screams and gunfire, it was so much louder than she remembered.

"Serena! Serena!" the skirt of the bed was lifted and orange light flooded underneath the bed. Sethaniel stared back at her, his face was young, young like when they had been children. He was a teenager, maybe 15 or 16. "Serena come here you have to come out it's not safe here!" Sethaniel grabbed Serena's arm and pulled her out from under the bed forcefully but careful to not harm her.

"No Sethaniel I don't want to leave! I don't want to go out there!"

He pulled her into his arms and hugged her close, he was kneeling so that he was her height "Serena it's not safe here the Valcors are coming closer, we have to go."

"But…."

"I know you're scared but you're a Princess you'll be Queen someday you have to be brave!"

"Serena! Sethaniel" Astrid came running into the room. Serena looked up she was younger too, her face had fewer lines and her hair was longer, and she didn't have the wisdom of age that she had possessed as Serena's tutor. This memory, this was from before, when Astrid was still a warrior, when she fought the battles and commanded troops. "Come we have to get out of here, they'll be here soon." She glanced at Sethaniel, "You shouldn't be here, you should have evacuated with the others when your father gave the order."

"I wasn't going to leave Serena, even if you were here she's my sister and I have to protect her I promised Serenity," he said. Serena held onto him tighter, her brother always protected her after the death of her mother, once she had died Sethaniel had always made sure she was safe and happy before anything else. Sethaniel followed Astrid into the hallway leaving the bedroom behind, Serena glanced at the bed once more and wondered about her bear.

"I understand that, but you're the Heir to the throne you shouldn't put yourself in unnecessary danger," Astrid said. "I would have protected her."

"We both know how important she is Astrid, she needs to be protected by all of us," he mumbled. Srena saw Astrid glance at her for a moment, there was a scowl on her face, it was strange she had almost no memory of Astrid when she was younger. This was a different person from the woman she had known.

"Seth….I'm scared still," Serena whispered into his ear.

He pulled her away from him and smiled down at her, the light making his blue eyes sparkle. "Don't be scared Serena there are always people watching over you, you may not see them but we're all here."

Suddenly gunfire exploded through one of the windows in front of them, Serena screamed as her brother turned her away from the glass and bullets, he kneeled down and covered her with his own body.

"They're getting closer we need to get out of here!" Astrid yelled. Serena looked up and saw Astrid holding a gun, it was rare that she ever held a weapon or used it, Astrid was a peaceful person. She was crouched against the wall watching out of the broken window, she pointed her gun and let off two shots.

"Who's leading the troops?" Sethaniel yelled.

"Vincent has come himself to challenge your father," Astrid stood and led them down the hallways. People were running around them screaming, sacred, and injured.

One woman was lying in the hallway half of her face was burned, she was screaming while two men tried to hold her down. "Don't look Serena," Sethaniel pushed her head into his chest.

She held on tighter and tried to block it all out, she tried to think of her mother. Another voice joined them, "What is the Prince doing here!" Serena looked at the new person. He was a tall general with long black hair and a scar across his left eye.

"I had to find my sister," Sethaniel said.

"The Princess has attendants who will see to her," he reached out and grabbed Sethaniel's arm he dropped Serena. "You are more important to the Coven! Your father has ordered me to get you to safety!"

"Seth!"

"Let me go! Serena come here!" Sethaniel took Serena's hand in her own it was warm and strong. "Don't let go of my hand!"

"Get the Princess out of here! Take her somewhere where she won't be in the way!"

"This is a battlefield Caius where do you think we should take her!" yelled Astrid. She stepped between Sethaniel and Caius, "I would suggest you take your hands off of the Prince before I inform the King about your violent actions towards his son!"

"I am merely using what force necessary to protect his Heir!"

"Protect Serena she's the important one!" yelled Sethaniel, "She's going to…."

"Be silent!" yelled Astrid. She looked at Serena and then back at Caius, "This child is important to the Prince if you want to ensure his happiness I would ensure her safety."

Caius looked down at her, his eyes angry and annoyed. "Bring…."

Suddenly the wall behind him exploded and the group was thrown backwards. Serena yelled and heard her brother yell for her. She used her strength to push broken pieces of wood and stones from atop her. She coughed and rubbed her eyes, she couldn't see; a shadowy figure appeared in the smoke. Suddenly Serena wasn't a child anymore, she was an adult. She stood and faced the figure in the smoke, "Who are you?"

The person didn't answer, "Who are you!" she yelled again.

The figure crouched down and then his shadow transformed into a black dragon. It spread it's wings, threw back its head and roared. Serena stumbled backwards, from the smoke she heard a voice deep and animal, "We are watching!"

* * *

Pounding on the door jolted Serena from her sleep. She sat up suddenly and looked around to ensure that she wasn't in the dream still. Hearing the soft breathing of her husband and recognizing her own bedroom she fell back onto the pillows and tried to control her breathing. Another knock made her jump, she massaged her eyes, they were aching from only a few hours of sleep. She glanced at Darien besides her then at the clock next to their bed. They had only been asleep for two hours. After several satellite meetings with the other members of the council and the leaders of the branch covens she and Darien had collapsed onto their bed with the intention of sleeping for as long as possible. She turned back over, "Go away," Serena moaned into her pillow. She felt Darien grasp her arm in comfort, "Come on my love we have to get up."

She felt his weight leave the bed and heard him open the door, "Sir you wanted me to inform you when there was news from Lady Ami. She's returned with Princess Rei and they are both asking to speak with you."

"Alright we'll be there soon, thank you," Darien nodded at the young man and shut the door. He looked back at the bed where his wife was still laying. She had her shoes still on and her hair was spilling across the pillow next to her. He studied her exhausted faced and mentally apologized for the fact that they were no longer going to be allowed to sleep. "Come on Serena we have to go," he said climbing onto the bed and hovering over her.

"No we don't let's just tell them that they have to wait until nightfall," Serena said. Her body was telling her that it was late morning and that the sun was high in the sky above them.

"We need to speak with Ami…we need to find out if Gabriella said anything or when she'll be allowed to speak with us," he said.

"Why is it she get's to sleep and we have to work," Serena said covering her eye with her arm.

Darien brushed the hair away from her cheek, "Come my Queen there's work to be done if we're going to nail your demon."

Serena removed her arm and stared up at the ceiling above their bed. "She taunted me, said she was warning me but I don't think that's what she was doing, she wanted to scare me, wanted to me to feel weak in her presence."

Darien stared down at his wife, "Did it?"

"No…it only angered me…." Serena sat up. "I want to know who this child is, who is she who thinks that she can harm my friends, mock my family, and try to intimidate me."

"Demons often come with masters my love," Darien said.

"Yes….I want to lock them in a hell cage for the rest of their existences, mortal or immortal I don't care…they will not destroy what we've worked so hard to build," Serena turned to him. Darien gave her a half smile and leaned in to kiss her, his lips were gentle and comforting. He could tell that she was stressed and he had heard her mumbling her her sleep, he wanted to comfort her even if it was only for a moment.

He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers, "I promise you with every part of my soul….they won't take this from us."

* * *

Ami sat quietly sipping her coffee, while Rei leaned back in her chair tapping her foot, her arms crossed over her chest. "What's taking them so long," she said.

"Let them be Rei from what Jadeite said they were up all night and day, they both only went to sleep a few hours ago," Ami said. She placed her cup down on the table and reached out in front of her to grab the sugar bowl from the tray in front of her. There were three cups and a ceramic pot on the tray, in one large bowl there were several packets of blood warmed in hot water. Ami pulled a packet from the bowl, ripped it open and poured it into her coffee, the brown liquid became tinted slightly red.

"You've been up the same amount of time, and you were in surgery, I don't see you taking twenty minutes to get out of bed and downstairs," Rei said.

"Would you have wanted us to show up in the clothes we wore yesterday sister?" asked Darien as he opened the door for his wife. Serena walked in freshly showered and properly dressed, her hair still wet; she sat down opposite Rei and pulled the tray towards her, she poured herself a cup of coffee, added sugar, then pulled a packet of blood. Darien sat next to Rei, he waited until his wife was finished to pour himself coffee.

"How is Gabriella?" he asked after taking a sip.

"Healing, surgery was difficult but we were able to keep her alive….for now that is," Ami took another sip from her coffee. "This demon was very determined to kill her, she slashed her lips, stabbed her several times in vital areas, and then tried to cut out her eyes. Zoicite was able to reconstruct her lips, I spent most of my time in her stab wounds and the organs that had been damaged. Mathis was able to clean her eyes and repair the cut cornea but now only time will tell, she's in a drug induced coma for the time being and despite your orders as her doctor I have no intention of bringing her out of it."

Darien sat forward in his chair and opened his mouth, but Serena spoke before he could. "We don't want you to…." Serena glanced at Darien then back at Ami. "Once she's mostly recovered then we'll speak to her, until then just keep her alive and make sure she is healed."

"She may have information on the demon that attacked Mina's house," said Rei.

"We already have information on her," said Darien, he looked at Serena. "After she attacked Mina's hose she came here and paid Serena visit. And we know why she attacked Gabriella."

"Because of her father and the connection to Demonti?" said Rei.

"What other reason would there be? She's the only one who we know will talk to us, the other members of the Demonti are generally tight lipped despite the danger that their demons pose to the rest of the world."

"Gabriella's may respect the Demonti but her true allegiance is to the Coven and…." Serena paused. "She will do help us and give us the information that we need."

"Though I hate to speak in a slightly disrespectful manner my Queen, allegiances are something that we never can be sure about, we all know that during the War some of our most trusted allies turned out to be our greatest enemies," said Ami.

"True…however I think Gabriella's loyalty to my cousin would ensure her cooperation, she's been by his side for many years now and they trust each other, she wouldn't hold back information that could potentially help him," Serena told her before finishing her coffee. "How are Mina and Lita?"

"Mina will be able to return home soon, despite the initial damage her surgery for the most part was an easy one, her burns were taken care of and she's resting now," Ami said.

"Nephrite and Lita have taken Andromeda to their home," Rei said.

"Nephrite left Trista?" said Darien raising his eyebrows.

"Despite what you think dear brother, Lita is his mate," Rei snapped.

"You cannot deny the shared history that Nephrite and Trista share," Darien said.

Serena raised her hand into the air, "I'm missing something here. Someone care to fully fill me in?"

Ami said nothing while Rei and Darien exchanged glances. Finally Rei spoke, "Before you were Queen Serena, even before your parents were married Trista was a powerful seer being trained by Astrid. During the War she was captured and help prisoner by our father, Nephrite was made her guardian."

"You mean her jailer," Serena said looked at Darien.

Darien nodded, "She was placed under constant surveillance, Nephrite and her were together for 5 years before she was taken back by the Romulen forces. It was rumored that during that time they were…"

"They became lovers," Serena finished. "And which one of you thought it would be a good idea for Nephrite to be assigned to his past love?"

"Cole made that decision," Ami told her. "He thought, and so did Nephrite that they would be able to resolve some of their issues and work together."

"And how's that going?"

Rei glanced at Ami, "Well he left her…so we know that he's completely devoted to Lita."

"Concern and devotion are two different things Rei, Nephrites never forgotten Trista despite his relationship with Lita. It's evident every time they are near that there are words that need to be spoken that aren't being spoken," Darien said.

"We can't allow these personal matters to hinder us, this coven is strong because we are family, because we care for our others," Serena stood. "We can't allow someone like this to shake us, whatever issue there are help them be resolved quickly." She turned to Ami, "Keep watch on Gabriella and inform us of her progress. Rei….something that I need you to look into, the Black Dragon…"

"I've already searched Ren there's nothing…."

"No there's something, your report there were several human families that used the Dragon as their symbol…"

"Yes but many of them have been killed off or inactive…."

"I understand that but were any of these families affected by the war or directly involved?"

"I couldn't find a direct connection…"

"But were any affected, residually, anyone caught in the cross fires of our battles? This person, this dragon I can't shake the feeling that they're connected to this human group, there has to something."

"Your report said that they were an old European family from Scotland right," Darien looked at Rei, she nodded. "Then if they aren't directly involved they could be using funds to support to Humans we could follow the paper trail."

Rei nodded, "I'll get on it."

* * *

"So the little Prince has found his new obsession," said Taiki, he leaned didn't take his eyes away from his paper as he spoke. He sat in the large garden of Seiya's mansion enjoying the warm weather and one of the few sunny days, lunch sat front of him, and his laptop was resting on the table idle.

"Yes as soon as he saw the picture of The Romulen Queen he ordered the demon to find her and bring her back to him," Kain said, he stood casually behind Taiki, hands in his pockets and his face turned up at the blue sky.

"Bringing her will be dangerous."

"The _Prince _gave his orders to his little pet and he's now formulating a new plan that involves her," Kain told him.

"She's a Vampire."

"Seiya thinks she could be the reincarnation of Aurora."

"Not possible Lady Aurora has only been dead for a handful of years, Queen Serenity has been alive for much longer than that, she's older than a century already, there's no way she can be Aurora," Taiki said turning the page of his paper.

"I explained it to him but he was insistent," Kain said pulling out a chair and sitting down. "Said that there was a reason for everything and that fate had led him to her."

"Is he aware that she is our target?"

"Yes I explained it all to him, however he disagrees now he says she's his future," Kain slumped down in the chair and sighed. "He's losing it."

"He's never been fully sane," Taiki said placing his paper down. "Ever since his family, and then his wife, it all piled up and is finally breaking through. He wont stop now that he has the motivation and the power. Momosuke's influence hasn't helped either, that boy's almost as unstable as Seiya himself."

"Madness breeds madness," Kain muttered. "Having support from the Miyagi family has only inspired both of them."

"Yes but how do you think Momosuke and his mother will react to the news that Seiya no longer wants to eliminate the Queen but seduce her," asked Taiki.

A female giggle caught their attention, their demon appeared from the shadows of the trees with a dark smile on her face. She didn't step into the light but they could see her clearly, "He has no intention of only seducing her. He wants to make her his bride, he wants to marry her and have her become his new companion."

Taiki looked over at Kain, who's face showed no surprise. "She is a Vampire, she's one of the ones responsible for the death of his family and his wife."

"You think that means anything to him?" she asked. "You Lord and master has a very different vision of reality, he sees only the distortion that is in his mind not the real thing…..and for this I adore him. All the damage he's going to do for one small little idea, an idea that's not even real." She laughed and twirled around like a small child.

"Because he's mad?" said Taiki.

"Madness breeds chaos," she stopped dancing and faced them again, "you humans you think that the world is in shambles because of those who dwell in the darkness. Please you give us too much credit. This world is falling to pieces because of your own actions, we rarely have to do anything, we can just sit by and watch as you rip yourselves to shreds, true we do sometimes inspire the deep darkness in your hearts but in reality it's mostly found on your own."

Taiki stood, "That's a lie….Vampires…"

"Have been at peace for the past 20 years, a long War has brought peace and prosperity after its end, the Underworld is being kept on a leash and even the human governments are benefitting from the Rule of Endymion and Serenity," said the demon. "Despite the evil you believe Vampire and my kind bring in reality it is you humans who do the most damage to this world…and to yourselves."

Taiki and Kain exchanged glances, Taiki spoke, "Your opinion is biased."

"Hahaha yes a human answer…but look at your own history, in the span of the thousands of years that Vampires have lived in secret they have only had one great War, the one that just ended. Humans however have had several Wars all of which almost destroyed the entire planet, not just themselves. I think the facts would argue against your logic."

"Enough of this," Kain snapped, "your mission is to capture the Vampire Queen, how do you plan to do that?"

She smiled at him, "You think I'm ill prepared….hold your glares for another who doesn't care about your stupidity…my business my plans are my own, as long as the job is done…that's all you need to concern yourself with." She glared and then disappeared back into the shadows.

Kain sat back in his chair, "I have little faith in the chains that bind her."

"I feel the same, her recklessness may cause us trouble, she doesn't want to end her fun yet but she's a demon and despite her liking for Seiya more than anything she wants her freedom. She'll betray us as soon as she's given the chance."

* * *

"Sir!" the door banged against the wall with such force that it dented it, a young man with long white hair ran into the room. "Sir we've been sent a report by and agent in the field."

Before a large window stood an old man in long black priest robes, he didn't respond to the younger mans panic, "And what is in this report?" He stood silently and calm before the window his hands folded behind his back.

"One of our priests has sent word from the monastery, the two guardians and the seer have left their sanctuary," he said.

"We supposed that this would happen sooner or later after the awakening, this news isn't urgent however," said the older man.

"No but Sir there is more, a member of our ranks has been killed, Serik the Vampire General has been murdered by a human faction, though the Vampire King and Queen have become involved they had almost no leads," he said.

"Mr. Sellers despite the interesting nature of this information it has little to do with our order, there are many who have retired from our Ranks and have lost their lives, it doesn't call for immediate action," said the older man still not turning from the window.

"Yes Sir I understand that but…."

"Unless there is something that is going to directly affect our order…" began the older man.

"Sir the 9th, 11th, and 15th Demon seals were broken, they've gone Sir, they've escaped and the 15th has….Sir?"

The older man had frozen, his shoulders were tense and the blonde could see him clenching his hands open and close. "Send out the word immediately…'All exorcists are to return to the Eastern Branch as soon as possible, the 6 Generals are to return and report to me immediately.' Find them despite their objections…"

The young blonde scrambled and was about to leave the room when the older man stopped him, "Send word to Yaten and Lain they are not to return here. Tell Lain she is to go to the Lycan and Wiccan leaders on the West coast of America, her assignment is to act as emissary until further notice. Then inform Yaten that his assignment is the Eastern Coast, he will work with the Vampire King and Queen to prepare the way for the Generals arrivals. He will object but send Knox with him…"

"Ronald Knox Sir?"

"Yes, despite Yaten's perfect record for exorcisms and containment, he has a personality that is difficult and I do not need him offending Endymion or Serenity before the Generals arrive."

"Then why send him Sir?"

"Because within the Vampire Coven Yaten has family."


	10. Chapter 9

Whee new chapter!

Hope you all enjoy. REview!

I do not own sailor moon or it's characters.

* * *

Serena stared down at the information lying in front of her, Rei had been in the field searching out the five families that they had narrowed the Black Dragon **Crest** down to. The first two had been complete dead ends, nothing that would lead them to either Romulen or Valcorian contacts. She collapsed into a chair and pushed the rolling chair away from the desk, her head was hurting her, she hadn't slept right in two weeks not since the incident with the demon girl. Ami had even given her a sedative, but nothing had worked, she still had nightmares and found herself even more restless. Darien had tried to tire her out in numerous creative ways, but still she couldn't stay asleep for an entire day.

The door opened behind her, "Shouldn't you try and take a break Serena?"

"I don't need a break I need answers," she said, she leaned back and saw Cole upside down in the doorway. He walked up behind her and put his hand on her head. "What?"

"Nothing just want to make sure that you're not killing yourself completely," he looked down at the web of information that she had drawn out on the transparent desk. She had drawn different color lines and notes in erasable marker but it was still a jumble of unrelated facts. "This is such a mess," he said.

"You're telling me," she sat up straight. "I can't make the connection Cole I can't see the lines where all the dots connect."

"Maybe you're looking too hard, or maybe there aren't any," he sat down in the chair across from her. "Think simply, go back to the beginning."

"The attacks on the Branch Covens," she said.

"Yes, what do we _know_."

"Ever since the last bought there haven't been any, they've completely stopped," she said.

"And were any of those Branch Covens significant in any way?"

Serena thought for a moment, "No the only attack that actually had any significant members of the Coven killed, not to say that the others weren't important, but the only person who was a threat to security and our defenses was Serik." Serena was silent for several long moments, "You think that the other attacks were random….or that they were to cover up for the real target?"

"I think that there was a reason Serik was targeted, all of this is too random, like a desperate attempt to cover tracks."

"So even after all the attacks it was Serik that was the real target. But why?"

"Serik was a top member of the Demonti, maybe the demon you encountered had some significance in his life."

"Tula did say that he had become obsessive in the last few weeks, talking about a powerful Seal being broken from the outside," Serena looked over at Cole. "The Demon that I met?"

"Perhaps, what did Tula tell you?"

"That Serik had said the Demon was old, older than any of us, and that it had taken a hell of a lot of people to corner and capture her," Serena said.

"Do you think that Tula has any of Serik's records or journals? We may be able to gather information from those."

Serena looked up at him, "Gabriella still not responding?"

Cole shook his head, "Ami still won't bring her out of the coma, she's almost completely healed now but Ami's hesitant, afraid that the trauma may do damage to her mind and psyche."

"It's a valid concern, after being attacked so brutally and having that be your last memory, I can understand how that could do some serious damage," Serena said. She ran her hands over her face, "I thought we were done with this all the darkness and violence."

"Peace doesn't last forever Serena, we had two wonderful decades without any opposition nothing that harmed us, it seems that our bill had come due." He leaned back in the chair and entwined his fingers in front of him, "A sad truth but very likely truth."

"It wasn't all peaceful," Serena muttered.

Cole's face fell, "I never paid my respects, I was in Africa when it happened Serena. I'm sorry, I don't think I ever expressed my regrets."

Serena smiled at him, "Thank you. I think I'm going to go back to Tula, see if she has any information."

"Why you?"

"Malachite and I went before, I think she was comfortable speaking with me, I don't want to sick some promotion seeking bloodsucker upon her." Cole raised his eyebrows, "Oh you know what I mean."

"You're going on your own?"

"No I'll take someone with me," she stood and stretched.

"Who?"

Serena stopped mid-stretch, "Who would you like me to take?"

"Honestly….Darien….or me."

Serena rolled her eyes, "That's not going to happen, you'll be all intimidating and question the hell out of her before I can even speak with the woman, and well Darien would just glare at her the right way and she'd clam up with fear."

"Your husband is a scary man," Cole said.

"Only to everyone else," she smiled. "I'd take Jadeite with me but he's leaving in a few hours to go meet Rei. Nephrite is sticking close to Lita ever since the attack and Zoicite is busy with Ami making sure we don't lose Gabriella or anyone else who was attacked."

"That leaves me," he said opening his hands.

"Again the intimidating factor, plus I think Caleb would freak if something happened to two Council members."

"Fair enough but I can only nominate myself, you know I've got your back," he said with a boyish smile. Cole was never like this with anyone else, only when around her and only when they were alone did he let his playful side come out. This side the made her see him as an older brother, the side that she for a long time had died with Sofie.

"Alright but you have to promise to be good," she said.

"Always."

* * *

"I want her now it's been weeks since I gave you your orders!" Seiya threw a glass full of brandy at the Demon girl. She moved her head just in time and it shattered against the wall behind him. "You've been stalling!"

"I haven't been stalling Prince, it's just been a little harder than I had anticipated, the house was protected by many powerful sorceresses and seers. Entering in the first time was difficult enough and now that they've reinforced everything it's become impossible!"

"So you can't do what I ordered."

"No what I am telling you is that we have to wait for Serenity to come out….impatient human," she muttered the last part under her breath.

Kain heard her however and hid a smile behind his hand. "Seiya on other news, Momosuke has promised us another shipment within the week, we'll have enough ammunition and weapons to make a move on one of the larger Covens."

"I don't give a fucking hell about any of that! Haven't you been listening all that matters is getting Serenity here!"

Taiki and Kain exchanged glances, Taiki adjusted his glasses, "Sir if I may ask what exactly do you plan to do with the Queen once you have attained her?"

Seiya turned around so that none of them could see his face, "That is none of your concern."

The little Demon girl smiled with evil approval, Kain glanced at Seiya suspiciously, and Taiki sighed. "Sir I think that preparations may need to be made, once the Queen gets here she will surely not be cooperative."

"She will be, leave that to me," Seiya said.

"The outcome of your wish may differ from you desires," said the Demon girl.

He turned on her, "I don't give a damn! Do what I've ordered."

"As you wish."

* * *

Ami flipped through the pages of Gabriella's chart, "Still stalling my love?" She turned around to see Zoicite leaned against the doorframe.

"As I told Serena I'm afraid of the shock…."

"You are afraid of what she's going to say," Zoicite came into the room and closed the door behind him. "You're afraid that this will be the break in the storm," he took the chart from her hands and embraced her.

She rested her head against his chest, "This is only going to get worse before it gets better my love."

"Yes, I agree," he kissed her forehead. "Have you heard from your contact in Japan?"

Ami shook her head, "No but I haven't ruled them out, I have a feeling….and I told you about the messages."

"Quite disturbing," he said.

She pulled away and looked into his eyes, "They knew about my mother Zoicite, they knew my thoughts it makes me wonder what else they know. What else they could do to us."

Zoicite put his finger under her chin and kissed her forehead, "Whatever they do we'll face it together."

"I'm scared….what if…what something happens?"

"To you?"

"To me….or the baby?"

Zoicite leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips, then he pulled her tight into a hug. "We'll deal with each hour as it comes. But I promise I will not allow anything to happen to you, no matter what."

* * *

Serena was lying on a boat floating on a peaceful lake, a book lay on her stomach, and she could hear soft music was playing in the distance. "Serena…..Serena….."

Her eyes fluttered open, she felt another presence in the boat. She sat up and stared at her brother, his brown hair fell into his eyes it was longer than when she had last seen him. "Sethaniel?" She looked around the lake was surrounded by woods to their left and an open field, the moon above them was bright in the dark sky.

"Serena…you're lost…you're drowning," he said watching the river bank. He was wearing an old Victorian style shirt, white and open at the chest. She looked down and saw her clothes were completely modern, a knee length light blue dress.

"Sethaniel I don't understand what are you doing here?"

He looked over to her "I told you I'd always be there for you, always. You need guidance I'm here to help you."

Serena looked around, "What is this place? I don't know it, we never came here together."

"No we never did, but you were here once a very long time ago," he said. "You have to remember Serena to connect the dots to form the lines, you have to remember." He looked down at her hands.

She followed his gaze all ten of her fingers had a red line attached to them, they all spiraled down to the bottom of the floor and out of the boat. She looked into the water and her eyes followed them to the river bank. In the open field she could see figures moving, they clashed against each other with force, but everything was silent no sounds of battle as there should have been.

She looked back at Sethaniel then held up her hands "I don't understand they lead onto the battlefield."

He took her hands gently into his, "After I died there was so much that you did Serena, so much fighting, you don't remember everything but there are those that do." He looked back at the shore, Serena looked over.

She saw herself on the battlefield, younger and less experienced. She was running through the chaos she remembered this now, she had been on the battlefield when someone had informed her of her brothers assassination. Without thinking she had run as fast as she could towards the house; she had abandoned the battle and her men, a horrible thing to do, but when she heard that her brother was dying she couldn't think of anything else.

She turned away, "I do remember this night."

"A painful memory," he took her hands in his. "In your despair there were things that you missed, your mind passed them up as a matter of smaller importance it ignored the details but your subconscious recorded everything." Serena looked up at him confused, "Look my dear sister."

Serena turned back to the battlefield she strained her eyes to see what her brother was referring to. At first she saw nothing but Vampires fighting Vampires, but then in the distance out of the shadows she saw movement. A boy walking through the battlefield, covered in blood, somehow he was untouched by the Vampires around him and the battle seemed as if it was nothing. There was a blank look upon his face, despite the fact that it was smeared with blood, the shock had overtaken him.

Serena looked away, she didn't remember him at all, "Sethaniel?"

"You ran past, you noticed him and then continued on he wasn't your concern then. There is no shame in that," he said.

"What is this? Why is this important?"

Sethaniel's face fell, "Because this night…..a great and terrible deed was done."

"You were…."

"A deed that we thought had no relation to us but remember the things we do and decisions we make echo in eternity," he said.

Serena was confused, "I don't understand Sethaniel."

"You will….you've become a very beautiful girl my little Princess," he said.

Serena froze, she removed her hands from his grasp and stood up, "Who are you?"

"What do you mean? Serena it's me your brother, I've come because you need guidance."

Serena's eyes were cold and full of anger now, "You are not my brother. My brother wouldn't have called me Princess, despite not understanding he always called me Queen. Who are you I demand you end this charade now you're insulting his memory!"

He smiled and then his form shifted into a black shadow, "Forgive me my _Queen_, but had I taken my other form I felt I would have shocked you." The shadow disappeared and a small black haired girl sat in his place. "I mean no disrespect but I didn't think you would trust my guidance if it wasn't from someone you knew well."

"I trust your words even less now," she stared down at the girl. Despite the look of her young body Serena could sense that she was very powerful.

"Forgive me my Queen it has been so long since I interacted with others besides my guardians, dealing with other beings is not second nature to me anymore," she said. "But I am a friend I only wanted to help you while I am not with you."

"Where are you?"

"Nearer than I was before, but still a little far, I will join you soon my Lady. I am a seer, like Astrid, and Sofie."

"I have never seen you before," Serena said.

"I was kept in a deep sleep for a long time, I am quite older than I appear." A silence lapsed between them, "I am truly sorry my Queen I only wanted to help. But all I have shown you here is true and it's all needed for the upcoming battle."

"Tell me of it," Serena sat back down.

The girl smiled, "You know I cannot, things are not certain, they are unclear even now."

"But you know something, otherwise why show me this?"

"That is true, I know where the darkness began, but I know little more than that. There are other forces at work here forces that can combat my own power," she said. She looked back at the bank, "See that face my Queen that is the face of someone who has lost everyone. The face of utter despair, you too had that look once not long ago."

Serena looked back to the dark haired boy, he was silent, unmoving, and though his face betrayed no emotion Serena could see inside of his eyes there was nothing but torture. "Who is he?"

"My lips cannot speak his name," she said. "But he is the one who stands beneath the Black Dragon."

"Who are…." Serena turned back to her but the girl was gone.

* * *

A hand gripped her arm and jolted her from her nap. Serena ran her hands over her face, "I'm sorry I was dozing."

"It's alright I'm almost ready to leave if you want to go before sunrise," Cole said. "Unless you wish to postpone our visit."

"No, give me half of an hour, I'll be ready by then," she said.

"Alright."

Serena stood and was at the door when Cole spoke, "Serena what were you dreaming about?"

She paused and tried to recall the details, she couldn't anymore now it was all fuzzy. "I….I don't remember," she said, "Why?"

"No reason, go I'll wait for you downstairs." Cole watched her leave and then turned back to the desk that she had just occupied. Upon one of the papers in scratchy writing was written, 'Beneath the Dragon.' He touched the words with his fingers, "Automatic writing." He folded the piece of paper and put it into his pocket, he would show Trista as soon as he could, whoever was touching Serena's mind was sending them clues as well.

* * *

"We've been given orders Yaten," Knox stood up and slid his gun into its holster. "We have to get moving our plane leaves in an hour and we still have traffic to deal with." He looked over at his young partner sprawled across the bed and ran a hand through his blonde hair. He rubbed his eyes under his glasses and then kicked Yaten's leg.

"Come on we have to go!"

"Go….go to see that bitch, why it's not like she cares what the fuck happened to me," Yaten mumbled. He sat up and brought the bottle in his hands to his lips, "Stupid fucking witch."

"Look whatever issues you have with your sister are your issue, this is the job, we've been given an assignment and that's that! Now get rid of that and get packed," Knox said.

"Fucking orders," he turned the bottle upside down and began to gulp down large amounts of the alcohol infused blood.

Knox glared at him then pulled his gun from the holster and shot the end of the bottle. The end exploded and drenched Yaten in blood dying his hair red. "There now you're done, get cleaned up quickly and move!"

"You stupid….." Yaten threw the rest of the bottle at Knox, who dodged it, and stood. "What the hell do you know."

"I know that you're issues with your family need to be put on the back burner and we need to get moving. His holiness gave us orders and now we need to ensure that they are followed."

"I don't want to go Ron, I haven't seen her for decades….not since our mother was killed," Yaten wiped the blood off his forehead and stared at the wall. "She was always the favorite…."

"That's not true," Knox said.

"You know it was, we were friends even before we joined the D's, you always saw how mother favored her."

"Your mother cared for her because she was a project for your mother, a piece to be moved in a game," Knox said as he pulled a towel from the table and threw it at his partner.

"No mother liked her, she loved her more than she loved me all because she was a genius, because she was smart and _could_ be useful in the War. Unlike me who was taken away by an organization that openly stayed out of the War and opposed it, as soon as I took my vow to serve them I was dead to her….useless."

"That's not true Annette was proud of both you and your sister, she loved you."

"Yeah whatever," Yaten threw the bloodied towel onto the messy be he had occupied and grabbed his gun from the table. He holstered it and threw his jacket over his left shoulder, "Come on….orders."

He walked out of the room without another glance, Knox shook his head he wasn't looking forward to the reunion.

* * *

"How much longer till we land?" she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"A few more hours," said the short haired blonde.

"Excited to see your brother?"

"No particularly," she said, "Haven't seen him since we went into hiding."

"Well I'm sure that he will be happy to see you."

"Doubtful, we never got along."

"Maybe now will be the time to change that," there was a long pause between them. "He's married now, to a Royal."

"Our parents would have been proud," she said leaning forward and holding her face in her hand.

"I'm sure they were," she flipped to the next page of her book. She glanced across the aisle at the girl with the short dark hair.

"Michelle," said the short haired woman, "Are you scared to meet the Queen?"

Michelle looked up at her partner, "No I'm ready I have many things I wish to speak with her about."

"Your conversation will be delayed unfortunately," said the girl from the other side of the plane.

Michelle looked over at her, "Why?"

"The Queen will be absent from the house when we arrive."

"We will speak when she returns," said Michelle turning back to her book.

"She will never return to that place again."

* * *

Hmmmm a few new developments, some hints, I'm sure some have you have figured out who this mysterious trio is, but can you discover who else is soon going to have a family reunion. Oh and yes...baby for Ami and Zoicite. And what are those last words? Things are about to get very very intersting!


	11. Chapter 10

I do not own sailor moon or its characters.

Sorry abuot errors it was a little rushed.

* * *

The doors opened automatically as Serena and Cole stepped through and into the lobby of Tula's apartment building. The man behind the desk bowed low to Serena and gave a military salute to Cole as they went to the elevator. "Everyone here knows you are you sure it's safe to be wandering around without protection?"

Serena pressed the call button to the elevator, "Isn't that why I brought you?" Cole gave her a knowing look, "Calm down the staff knows me so what it's not like everyone does. Besides those who work here were extensively background checked and interrogated before they were allowed to be posted, and so were most of the residents. Some of our most prominent Coven members have apartments here, and we didn't want them to be in danger."

"Still we should be more careful about you making public appearances," he said as the elevator doors opened and they stepped in.

"And here I thought you were the analytical thinker, if I announce where I'm going to be all the time it would make it easier for me to be a target." Serena pressed the button for Tula's floor, the doors closed and the elevator began to move.

"Serena you're not as anonymous as you were when you were just the Romulen Queen," Cole said.

"I was anonymous?"

"You the High Queen of the Vampire world, a leader on the council as well as one of the figure heads of our community, Darien and yourself are two of the most…."

The doors opened with a soft ding and both of them instantly knew that something was wrong. The entire floor was dark and there was an ominous chill in the air. Serena and Cole both drew their firearms and pointed them out into the hallway. They shared a look then Cole proceeded forward first, as he walked he counted his steps. "Which door?" he whispered.

"Third one," Serena said, she walked backwards watching behind them her eyes were roaming looking for anything out of place or movement. The other doors were all closed and Serena knew they were dangerous if they were concealing potential enemies, Cole reached the door first.

"It's open," he said. Serena looked, the door had been forced open, the lock had been broken and the door was now standing slightly open. Cole pushed the door gently with the butt of his gun and scanned the hallway and then moved into the apartment, Serena turned and glanced behind her once more before following him inside.

They slowly moved towards the large open sitting room, trying to be as quite as possible, Serena still watching behind them waiting if anyone crossed the door. Cole entered the room first; the curtains were open but the room was still dark, the windows were tinted blocking the moonlight even with his advanced eyesight he couldn't see much, but he did smell blood and a lot of it. He took a step forward and glass crunched under his foot, he looked down right as the light went on. He spun around and dropped to one knee pointing the gun at the light switch.

Serena stood there her hand on the switch, Cole was about to reprimand her when he saw her face. Her eyes were wide with shock and her mouth was hanging open. Cole turned and followed her gaze. The windows were not tinted as he had first thought instead a thick mostly fresh coat of blood had been smeared upon them. Blood was also splattered across the walls and there were some patters on the ceiling. He saw a headless corpse lying at the base of the window his shirt and entire chest had been slashed open and a pool of blood had gathered around him.

"Her bodyguard," Serena muttered her eyes looking from the headless man to the window. "He greeted me last time I was here."

Cole looked around the room and saw a bloody handprint on a door to the right, he raised his gun and cautiously moved towards it. "Serena…." She didn't respond, instead she was standing in the middle of the room staring down at the carpet, "Serena?"

"There was a chair here, carved from wood it's not here anymore," she kneelt down and examined where the chair had stood. The carpet underneath was pristine and untouched by the blood, which meant that someone had removed it after the attack. Serena touched the carpet, she turned to speak to Cole but he was gone and the door to the other room was open, she saw him moving around.

A noise caught Serena's attention, she looked up and saw another hallway leading towards the other end of part the apartment. She stood raising her gun pointing it in the direction where she had heard the noise. "Cole…."

She heard another noise, as if someone was moving around in the room at the end of the hallway, "Cole?" she said a little louder.

She took a few steps forward never dropping her gun, her boots touched hard floor. There was a dim blue light coming from the room. Serena pushed herself against the wall on other side of the hallway trying to looking into the room, she saw nothing at first. Just the edge of a bed and more white carpet, then she leaned a little and saw a figure lying face down on the bed. She saw the dark hair and the silken fabric of the sari. "Cole! In here," Serena yelled as she kicked open the door and went to the bed to check Tula for a pulse. She pressed her fingers to her neck and waited, she didn't feel one she put her ear to Tula's back and heard the fait heartbeat that could have only been detected by her Vampire hearing. "Cole!"

"Tula…Tula?" Serena grabbed her shoulder and rolled her over gently, Tula groaned weakly in response which was more of an exhale of breath. "Tula answer me, come on I need to know….Cole!" Tula had a long gash running from her collar bone all the way down to her navel and a deep slash across her neck, the entire bed was soaked in her blood but Serena saw that neither cuts were very deep. There were however much deeper wounds on her face and legs. "Tula…." Serena brushed her sticky blood soaked hair away from her face.

A giggle from behind her stopped Serena dead and sent a chill down her spine, "Silly Queen you're such a bleeding heart."

Serena raised her gun and turned, in the corner was the same little girl who she had encountered only a few days before. Serena's eyes met the girls black ones and Serena saw nothing but utter glee and triumph in their darkness. "What was the purpose of this?" Serena's hand shook from anger and fear, she could feel the power radiating from the girl.

The little girl smiled evilly at her, "What does it matter, my purpose is to bring you back to my master who gives a damn about the casualties."

"I do!"

"Too bad, bonds make you weak," she said. "Now say bye bye it's time to come with me."

"I'm not going…." But before Serena could finish her sentence the little girls shadow suddenly shot forward and grabbed Serena's ankle. Serena was pulled from the bed on to the floor, "COLE!" she dropped her gun and tried to grab onto the carpet to stop herself from moving.

The bedroom door slammed open and Cole shot twice at the little girl, she glared at him "Oh please." She was sinking into a dark vortex of black shadows in the floor and dragging Serena with her. "Bullets aren't worth anything you stupid Vampire."

"COLE!" he dropped his gun and grabbed Serena by the arms. He pulled trying to free her but it was no use he only ended up being pulled towards the hole himself. "Cole!"

"Serena," Cole dug his heels into the ground and used all his strength to stop her from being fully sucked into the darkness. She stopped for a moment and he actually began to pull her back until another shadow reached out of the dark vortex and struck him. He lost his grip on Serena and went flying backwards into the wall, "COLE!"

He hit the ground hard but shook it off, he pushed himself up onto his hands right as he saw Serena disappear completely and the vortex close. "Serena!"

* * *

Darien stood in the incident room staring at the large monitors, there had been another attack on a small Coven in the Western part of China. There had been to human casualties but the list of Vampire deaths was growing every few minutes. The humans had attacked in the midst of the Chinese New Year so the entire coven had been unprepared, after the initial attack they had retreated and used missiles to destroy the structure and those trapped inside. The monitors showed nothing but fire and smoke, every once in a while a charred or bloody person would run in front of the camera.

Behind him again was panic and chaos, phones were ringing off the hook, papers from faxes were rapidly printing, and the radios were blaring with questions and requests for backup. Darien was getting a headache already, a young woman called out to him from somewhere, "Sir Gabriel is asking for a status report."

"Send him all the information that we've been given," Darien said not taking his eyes away from them monitors in front of him.

A few seconds later the same woman spoke again, "Sir he would like to speak to you."

"Did you send him the data?"

"Yes."

"Then tell him to read it and then call me back," he said.

"Sir he….." her voice was full of fear and Darien knew that Gabriel was most likely screaming at her.

"Hang up the phone."

"Sir?"

"This is an order from your King, hang up the phone."

"Yes sir."

"No forward all his calls to my person voice mail, and then erase all of them."

"Yes Sir."

Darien continued to watch and then asked if there was an updated list of the dead yet. A woman informed him that they were printing one out and it would only be a little while longer.

"What's the report?" Darien turned around and saw Malachite standing behind him.

"The West China branch was attacked by the Humans, the total damage is still unknown but we've sent out aid from the recovering branches in Italy and the hospital in the Netherlands," he said turning away from the other man. A young blonde woman came up to Darien and handed him a piece of paper. "Damn it," he muttered staring down at the list in his hands.

"Sir?"

"In the chaos Gam-sing was smart enough to send out a small group to try and follow the humans but they lost them in the desert," Darien crumpled the paper and threw it off to the side.

"Can we follow them with our satellites?"

"No there's a sand storm that's kicked up and we can't get a clear image, we've lost them again," Darien said.

"I hate to say this but this group is very organized, they seem to know exactly where and when to strike, when we are most vulnerable," said Malachite. Darien heard a chime from Malachite's cell phone, and glanced at the man as he reached into his pocket and silenced the phone. Malachite slid the phone back into his inner pocket without looking at it. "Sorry."

"Problems?"

"Mina's was taken to Lita's the other day and ever since she's been….well a little dramatic. She's become paranoid about almost everything despite the extra security that's been placed around the house."

"It's understandable, how is your daughter adjusting to the change," Darien asked. The awkward tension between them was there they hadn't been alone together for a long time. Despite the many years that had passed since Mina had left him for Malachite there was still a strain on between the two men. Not that Darien cared about Mina's betrayal anymore, he had found his soul mate in Serena, there was still a strange feeling in the air whenever he and Malachite were in the same room together.

"She's doing fine, doesn't completely understand but keeps asking if we're going to make a new home soon. I told her that until all of this is cleared up we will probably remain with Lita and Nephrite."

"You could send her somewhere, her and Mina," Darien took another piece of paper that was handed to him and began reading the names.

"I considered that option but I feel that I am needed here and if I was to send them away I would constantly obsess over their safety, while they are here I know Lita and Nephrite can protect them," Malachite turned to one of the women in the room and requested a cup of bloody coffee.

"I have to make a phone call," Darien said turning away from the chaos list in hand. "I trust you can take care of things here."

"I can I'll contact you if there are any changes," Malachite said with a bow.

"Good Ami should be calling soon." Darien walked away from him and nodded to two men in the room. He was descending the steps when suddenly a pain struck him in the heart. He let out a yell, with one hand he grabbed onto the railing to stop from falling, the other hand clutched his heart. The pain only intensified, he let of the rail and slid to the ground, the voices around him were blurred together and pained his ears. Suddenly just it had come the pain was gone, he collapsed onto the stairs breathing hard with sweat running down his face. He felt hands touching his forehead and someone gently shaking him, all he saw were shapes and blurs, the edge of his vision began to darken. Before he collapsed he tried to reach out to Serena but he felt nothing, he whispered her name before descending completely into darkness.

* * *

Kain stared at the blonde lying on the cold marble floor, she was lying on her chest her face turned to the side her blonde hair spilling out around her. He stood above her hands casually in his pockets, he titled his head, she didn't look like a killing monster but he knew better. He had seen a docile child turn into a violent killing machine, Vampires were deceptive.

The doors behind him opened with a bang, Kain looked over his shoulder to see Taiki standing there out of breath. "So….she caught her," he said between breaths.

Kain looked back at the Queen, "Yes that little bitch dropped her hear about twenty minutes ago."

"Have you sedated her?"

"No I was waiting for Ashlee to do it if I killed her Seiya wouldn't be too pleased," Kain kneeled down and brushed Serena's hair away from her face. "She really is beautiful though no doubt about it."

Taiki stood behind him watching as Kain touched the Vampire Queen gently, "If Seiya catches you leering over his new woman he may kill you."

"No need to panic, I haven't fall that far from grace," he said. "She still is a hell creature."

"I wouldn't let our little Prince hear you say that," her voice echoed around them sending a shiver down Taiki's back and making Kain stiffen. "Though I do wonder what he plans to do with her, she'll fight him when she wakes and there's no way that he'll be able to tame her."

"I highly doubt our Prince has thought that far in advanced," said a voice from behind them. The three of them turned, Ashlee stood in the doorway holding her medical bag. She was dressed this time, wearing business clothes and a white lab coat, her hair pulled back from her face. As she approached Serena her heels clicked on the marble floor.

"Has Seiya given you orders?" Taiki asked.

"Yes he said to make sure that she wasn't damaged in transport," Ashlee looked up at the demon girl, who growled at her, then began to check Serena's pulse. "I am to sedate her and then have you two move her into more comfortable living arrangements."

"Is that it?"

"They are the only orders I received," she pulled from her black travel bag a syringe filled with clear liquid. "I had to multiply the doseage to compensate for her abnormal metabolism but this should keep her under for about 6 hours. By then hopefully we'll have new orders." She stuck the needle into Serena's shoulder and then replaced her instrument. "Kain take her to the guest bedroom."

"The Prince doesn't want her in the Mistresses room," Kain said.

"I'm sure he does but despite my distaste for Vampires even I can see how sick it would be to put the Queen into her bed," She said.

"You're the boss," he said, he picked her up and carried her out of the room.

Ashlee stood and glanced at the demon girl, "Don't you have cities to topple?"

The little girl growled again but disappeared. Ashlee moved past Taiki and towards the door when he spoke to her, "It was wise of Seiya to put you in charge."

"Yes unlike some he does see me as useful," she said; her demeanor had changed from the previous night, she was no longer the wanton vixen who desired her fiancée, she was stone cold business and out to prove a point.

There was tense silence between them, her waiting for him to speak, and he waiting for her to leave. Finally she scoffed in frustration and stormed from the room.

* * *

Lita stepped out of the car and looked up at the large black building in front of her. On the outside all was calm and serene as if nothing was amiss, but when she looked through the windows into the lobby she could see that this was a charade. "We should get in there Ami's already upstairs," Nephrite said as he closed the drivers door.

" Has Tula been taken to surgery?" Nephrite nodded to his wife; the doors slid open and their ears were suddenly assaulted with panic. There were women and men yelling at the security guards, SWAT team members armed and standing around the lobby questioning residents, numerous agents running around trying to take names and statements, while mothers tried to hush their children and husbands tried to console their hysterical wives.

"My Lady," Lita turned to her left a young woman with brown hair approached her. She had on a black suite and her hair was tied back, "My Lady I am Fiona His Lordship sent me down to wait for you."

Lita nodded and followed the girl to the elevators, when the doors closed she, Nephrite, and the young woman were once again engulfed by silence. "How long has the recovery team been here?"

"Almost two hours, we received the call and came as soon as we could, we're flying in two experts from Europe and South America, and Lady Ami has been leading the forensics team."

"And his Lordship?"

"Distraught ma'am but he's trying not to show it but he won't leave the apartment," she said.

"Have you contacted the King?" The young woman looked down at her feet, "What?"

"We've were informed that the King collapsed ma'am, but we told Lord Malachite and he assured me that he would revel this to the King after Lord Zoicite handled the situation at the mansion."

"Is Cole aware that the King collapsed?" asked Nephrite.

"No Sir Malachite told our small team to keep this from him but to inform any members of the cabinet such as yourselves," she said.

"Have one of your men contact the Princess Rei and General Jadeite when the opportunity arises," Lite said. "For now we shall keep this from Cole he doesn't need any more stress."

"Yes ma'am." The doors opened and Lita and Nephrite exited, the entire hallway was filled with men and women. Two men were inspecting the walls with some type of machine, while several others were individually interviewing the other residents of the floor. Nephrite told her to go ahead, he wanted to stay and speak with several of the neighbors.

Lita passed a large man standing at the doorway to Tula's apartment, he bowed to her as she went in but said nothing. People were running around the apartment collecting samples, sectioning off certain areas, and she felt the strong presence of magic from inside. She stepped into the sitting room and saw Ami standing over the decapitated body, Lita's eye were instantly drawn to the large bloody mural that was painted on the windows.

"Ami." Ami turned around and lifted her glasses to rest on her head, "Well?"

"Nothing, no forensic evidence at all, nothing to tell us who the attacker was, nothing that would lead us to even think there was an attacker other than this mess," she said. "We found evidence of Serena and Cole but nothing from the attacker, at least not in here."

Lita heard voices from down the hallway, "And in there?"

"Cole found high traces of sulfur around where he saw the vortex which confirms that it was probably that demon, but there was nothing on Tula's body," Ami told her.

"How is she?"

"Alive, the largest wound wasn't deep I think it was made for show, most of the deeper cuts were on her face and legs she lost a lot of blood but I think she'll pull through. Unlike this gentleman here," she said looking down. "It ripped open his stomach and then painted the windows with his blood…before ripping off his head."

Lita swallowed uneasy, "I really don't know how you're dealing with all of this."

"It's unfortunately one of the things I became used to, First the War, then the uprisings, as well as the human instances where I was deployed, men are a violent race of creatures and though we are a little more reserved than they we have committed our own fair share of atrocities."

"Cole?"

"In the other room with the 'experts', though I highly doubt any of them understand what's going on here, all of them have only agreed on one thing in the last two hours, 'That this is where the Queen disappeared'," Ami kneeled down and touched the wound on the body's neck with her gloved hand. "But we already knew that since Cole saw her disappear there, I swear some of the old crones really need to retire."

Lita fought against a smile, "The woman who brought us up here said he hasn't left since she disappeared."

"No…."

"Ami did you know Darien collapsed at the mansion," Lita asked.

Ami stiffened then looked up at her friend, "No when?"

"Well I wasn't given a specific time but I'm going to assume that it was probably right when Serena was pulled through that vortex."

"I have some interesting news," both women looked at Nephrite as he approached them. "Apparently all the residents were put under a sleeping spell while this whole thing was going on, none of them remember anything and the only memories they do have are of waking up and being confused."

"This was planned well," said Ami, "But the question is how did they know where Serena would be, how did they know that she was coming it was a surprise visit. None of us even knew she was coming here."

"Maybe it wasn't Serena they were after," Nephrite and Ami looked at Lita who was staring down at the corpse. "This group has targeted all the members of this family, Serik, his adopted daughter Gabriella, and now Tula his wife. Maybe Serena just happened to come at the wrong time and this demon took advantage of that."

Ami looked down at the body as well, "It's a possibility."

"It's more probable than anything else, you even said the wounds on Tula's body weren't serious, the cuts on the legs and face were but the biggest wound wasn't meant to kill her. Maybe the demon was in the middle of torturing her when Serena and Cole interrupted. I mean the brutal nature of this," Lita motioned down to the body, "It was made to strike fear into someone, but obviously not him he wasn't going to survive anyways. The only logically explanation would be to scare Tula to ensure her of how serious this demon was."

"I'll have to question Tula but that does make sense," Ami said. "But then the question becomes what did the demon want?"


	12. Chapter 11

Darien opened his eyes and found himself staring at the blank white ceiling of the medical ward. He sat up slowly, the IV in his arm pulling painfully; his throat was dry and his head aching. He felt weak, weaker than he had ever felt before; slowly he lay back down and closed his eyes trying not to think about the ach in his head. He tried to remember back to what had happened to put him here.

In an instant it all came rushing back to him, the pain, the panic, the emptiness, the darkness. He closed his eyes and mentally searched for his wife's presence. It was gone, absent as if it had been erased from the world, as if she no longer existed. The fear inside of him grew, never in the two decades that they had been with each other had he not felt her, even between great distances, injuries, and sleep he had always felt her presence and their connection. Now it was as if she didn't exist, there was a blank space where he should have felt her and it was making him nauseous.

He sat up and threw the blanket off of him, his shirt and shoes had been removed but whoever had settled him here had given him the decency of leaving his pants on him. His feet touched the cold floor, when he put weight on his feet his legs shook and he wanted to collapse, he was terribly weak. He was reaching for his shirt, which as folded on the chair next to his bed, when the door opened.

"You need to stay here Darien your levels are completely off," Ami said walking over to him and attempting to move him back to the bed.

Darien complied only to sit back down, "Something's wrong I can't feel Serena." He looked over to the door and saw Malachite had entered the room with Zoicite behind him, both of their faces were blank but Darien could sense their emotions being hidden from him. Ami had begun to check his IV and blood pressure, but she wouldn't look at him. "What's happened?"

None of them said anything and Ami continued to avoid eye contact with him. Finally Darien touched her wrist and she looked up at him, "Ami? What's wrong?"

Ami glanced to her husband and then back to her King, she sighed and then spoke, "Darien….you can't feel Serena because…..because she's gone. They took her."

"Who?"

"The demon pulled her out of Tula's apartment and into a dimensional rip, we've been trying for hours but no one can find her, even Trista….." Darien moved to his feet again and cut her off.

"We need to search…."

Ami placed a hand on his chest and pushed him back down onto the bed. "Darien we are doing everything, Cole hasn't left the apartment, Lita and Nephrite are there, and we have experts from all over."

"We're also flying two other powerful seers to help Trista try to locate the Queen," Malachite added.

Darien again tried to stand, "I need to speak with them….the council."

Ami stopped him, "Has been informed and briefed upon the situation. Lucius is on his way here now and is lending all his support…"

Darien tried to stand again "We have to…."

"Darien," her voice was harsher this time, Ami pushed him back down onto the bed. "We are doing everything possible to find her and to find out what has happened. I understand your frustration and your fear, however you have been weakened by the unexpected break in your bond. You and I both know that sometimes the breaking of a bond can result in mental and physical harm so to ensure that you aren't in any serious trouble you need to rest and allow us to run tests."

"I need to find my wife!"

"She is my friend as well Darien, I want to find her just like you do but harming yourself will not help any of us."

Darien grabbed her wrist, "Ami the bond….when it breaks…..when it breaks like that….it could mean…."

"Serena is not dead," Ami put her hand atop his and looked him directly in the eye. "She is not dead, if there is one thing that I know for certain it is that."

Darien held her gaze momentarily and then nodded, he got back into bed and leaned against the headboard. "Good," Ami looked at her husband, whose expression showed only amazement, and nodded, "Malachite come with me."

Ami gave Darien's arm a supportive squeeze and then left his side. When she and Malachite were in the hallway she closed the door, as they began to walk Ami spoke. "I have a mission for you Malachite, and it will require your unique talents."

"I don't understand," he said.

"Come now, we both know where you were trained, who your master was. You grew up with Serena's mother and you were trained by the same women." They stopped walking on the catwalk overlooking the lower levels of the hospital, she turned to him, "You are one of the best covert assassins we have working for us, during the War you were one of the best the Valcorian council employed. I need you to use those skills now."

"You want me to kill someone?"

"I want you to ascertain someone, bring them back here, alive for questioning," she said.

"Who?"

"Shichinosuke Miyagi," Malachite's eyes flashed, Ami was aware of the connections between the two men. During the War Malachite had worked hand in hand with The Miyagi family, she knew that asking him to practically betray his old friends was cruel but Ami knew that Miyagi would have answers. "And if possible his son Momosuke, however I highly doubt that you will be able to find him."

"Ami this is…."

"A very personally difficult task, but it has to be done, you know the family and their secrets better than anyone else, I am trusting you and trusting Serena's life to you as well."

Malachite looked back down the hallway that they had just come from then back to her, there was no longer any doubt in his eyes. "I will leave immediately."

* * *

The doors to the posh sitting room were thrown open so hard that several books fell from their shelves. "Where is she?" Seiya glanced around the room at its occupants. Kain was sitting in the corner a newspaper in his hands; Ashlee was reclining on the large couch her laptop resting on her thighs; Taiki was sitting behind the small wooden desk writing in a note book; and the small girl who was not at the moment a demon sat delicately drinking tea from a cup.

"My lord you've returned," said Ashlee sitting up.

"Where is Serenity?" Seiya demanded.

"She is still sedated my lord, we put her in one of the guest rooms with a guard and my assistant," Ashlee stood and glanced at Taiki swiftly.

"A guest room, why is she not in the rooms I specified, they belong to the Mistress of this House and she…."

"Is not the Mistress of this house," said the small girl before bringing the cup to her lips and sipping. "She is even a guest technically."

"Shut your mouth, she is Aurora, she is my wife!"

"She is Serenity Romulus the Second, wife of Endymion Valcorius, and Empress of the Both Ruling Houses of the Vampire Kingdom," she said.

Seiya stormed over to the girl and smacked her with enough force to throw her to the ground. She caught herself on her hands and remained there for a moment then suddenly the air around them changed and was full of malice and anger. The girl twisted around and screamed at him, her eyes a black and her aura around her burning red.

"Though you may have enough power to summon me you do not have enough power to transfer me into another body, so I suggest you never again lay a finger upon this one!" she yelled. Seiya stared at her with defiant eyes, "Then don't spout off at the mouth to me."

"I said nothing it was that other one, the one who cares about the Queen, remember that because of your incompetence there are two dwelling in this shell."

"My incompetence!"

"Yes your egotistical human nature made you think that you were powerful enough to summon me without the proper channels! When you broke the seal you allowed for other entities to slip out as well, one of those being the other who dwells within me. Had you done enough research that wouldn't have happened," she spat at him.

"I summoned you I control you," he said looking down at her with the same hate and anger she looked at him with. "Now all of you prepare the ceremony I want this done immediately." He turned and left the group without another word.

The demon stood and stared after him, "Control me, ha I laugh at your arrogant nature." Her eyes wandered over to Kain, who in the commotion had stood from his seat, "Funny how you humans are the catalyst for your own destruction."

* * *

"Another dead end," said Jadeite getting into the car. When there was no response he looked over at his wife, "Rei?"

"I'm worried," she said staring out across the mist English moors.

"I know that this all seems…."

"No about Darien, ever since I talked to Ami."

"She said Darien was doing alright didn't she?"

"Yes but that's not what concerns me," Rei turned to face him. "That kind of pain, that kind of break int their bond shares the same characteristics as if Serena had been killed."

"But Ami said…."

"Yes and I don't think that Serena's dead either, but there's something wrong, how could they cut the bond like that and who would have the power to do it," she said.

"They said the demon is probably very old, you felt her power and said the same thing," Jadeite stared at his wife, ever since she had been given an update from home she had been worried.

"I want to go home Jed, I want to see Darien I want to help them find Serena."

"Rei this….."

"This is important I know but I can't help shake the feeling that I need to be home," she said. "We can find a replacement team from London and have them check out the last residence. But I feel like I should be home."

Jadeite stared at her then nodded, "Alright we'll head back ."

"Thank you my love," she leaned over and kissed him then settled back into her seat and stared out across the moors again.

* * *

The stairs to the jet lowered onto the wet tarmac, Michelle's shoes clicked on the metal as she climbed down. When she reached the bottom a young man took her hand to ensure that she wouldn't fall on the last step, she thanked him and then started walking towards the black limousine that was waiting for them.

"Hurry little one we are wasting precious time," Amara called back into the jet as she too exited. She passed the young man at the foot of the stairs without any acknowledgement and joined Michelle in the car. "We are only about an hour and a half away now," Amara looked at Michelle when she didn't answer and saw her worried face. "What is it?"

Michelle looked up at her briefly then back down to the tablet computer in her hand. "There's been an emergency bulletin sent out to all members and allies of the Coven…..the Queen has been kidnapped, taken by a shadow Demon, her bond broken with the King and there has been little progression in case."

The little girl with black hair entered the car and settled herself next to Amara, Michelle looked up at her. "Were you aware of this?"

She did not look at the older women, instead she gazed out of the window. There was silence for several seconds then she spoke, "I told you she would never return to the house, I also told you that she wouldn't be there when we arrived."

"Had we known what you were speaking of we could have warned them," Amara said.

"No we can't warn them about such things, this is what is supposed to happen, it has to happen for things to move forward."

"The Queen could be in danger, you were the one who said you wanted to stop sitting on the sidelines!"

"Yes but this, this meeting will change all things, it is not just a meeting between the Queen and the boy, but also the Queen will meet again someone who she missed dearly," she said.

Amara and Michelle exchanged glances, "you mean the other one inside of the Demon."

"Yes, she came back to help the Queen and though it will be hard it is what must happen. We must go to the King and to the rest of our family."

* * *

She sat at the edge of the bed staring at the blonde who slept silently. It had been many years since she had seen that face, it was different from the girl who she had known from childhood, from the woman who she had known before her death. Serena was very different from the young girl she had once been, as she stared at the Queen's face she smiled softly, she was proud of her, ever since she had been dragged back with the demon she had read and listened. In the past 20 years there had been only prosperity and peace in the Vampire world, Serena and Darien had been at the center of that, and she was very proud.

She crossed her small legs leaning her elbows on them she studied Serena. Though she was stronger looking there was also tiredness in her face, one that only those close to her would recognize. She was not ignorant to what had happened several months ago, she had been back in the world then and seen it through a vision. She still had them, still they sometimes plagued her while she tried to sleep and let the demon control their vessel.

She looked away, despite wanting to help her there was nothing much she could do. Serena was captured, she was being held by the demon, who was being held by the irrational human male. The boy who thought he was a man because of his money and name. She scoffed, if there was one thing that she and the demon agreed upon it was the fact that 'Prince' Seiya was a foolish child who had no idea what he was doing.

The door to the bedroom opened, she turned and saw him standing in the doorway staring at her. After several long minutes he spoke to her, "Does it hurt you to see her here with me?"

"No she will never be yours she belongs to no one."

"Your Queen….she belongs to me she's been lost for so long, and now I've found her." He moved towards the bed slowly, when he was about three feet from her a crackle of red electricity flared up and shocked him. He jumped away from the bed and glared at her, "Your power won't last, when I finally am able to rid you of that body and banish your soul then I'll have her."

She smiled, "Until little Prince I suggest you keep your hands off of my cousin."

He glared at her then turned and slammed the door behind him. She looked back at Serena, who had not moved. "Serena there isn't much I can do in this state but I will do what I can."

* * *

Lita stared down at the cold body before her, "Doesn't it unsettle you ever?" She looked up at Ami, who was elbow deep in the corpse. The front of her protective apron was covered in blood, as was the plastic mask upon her face.

"Not really," Ami didn't look up as she continued to examine the corpse's trachea.

Lita backed up a few more steps and leaned upon the metal table behind her. "In case you wanted to know we use that table to drain the fluids from the bodies," Ami said. Lita instantly straightened up and moved away from the table, she didn't fail to miss Ami's small smile.

"I don't even know why we're doing this we know what killed him," said Lita.

"On the contrary we assume we know what killed him, however I am finding very interesting things in here."

"Care to share?"

"Yes….." The silence between them grew.

"Ami!"

"There is significant burning in his lungs and throat."

"Which means?"

"It could mean a number of things but I think that my hypothesis will be supported," Ami said as she held up on of the corpse's lungs. "I believe that they made him ingest silver, I'll have to of course confirm this with the rest of the body but I am almost positive that that's what killed him."

"So why would they do that?"

"Probably to torture him, to scare Tula, to draw out the pain…who knows this demon is very vindictive."

There was a knock at the door behind them and a young man stepped forward, "Lady Ami there is are two gentlemen here to see you."

"Me specifically?" Ami asked as she held up the body's heart. Lita adverted her eyes and looked over to the youth at the door. He was extremely nervous and she could see that he hesitated with every word.

"Yes Ma'am, they are waiting in the upper library."

"And did they say what they wanted?"

"Ma'am….one of them…one of them says he is your brother."

Lita looked back at Ami, who had frozen, and then to the youth. "Tell him…."

Ami interrupted her, "Tell him we will be up to see him in a few minutes."

The youth nodded and then retreated. Ami backed away from the corpse and went over to a sink she removed all of her surgical clothes and asked one of her lab assistants to finish the autopsy. She was scrubbing her arms at another sink when Lita approached her. "Your brother….."

"Annette's son, her biological son…." Ami said.

"Oh….from your childhood," Lita said.

"Yes, from before I knew you and Mina," Ami dried her hands and turned to her friend. "He's a member of Demonti, a very valuable member and a high ranking agent."

"Why did you say anything when Cole was…."

"Because I haven't seen him in almost fifty years, not since our mother died….before that even," Ami said.

"Why do you think he's come?"

"Hopefully as a representative for the Demonti, if not that then there could be trouble."

"Trouble?"

"Yaten and I didn't part on good terms last time we saw each other," Ami pushed away from the sink that she had been leaning on and they left the morgue. They walked down a long hallway and into the elevator. They waited as it lifted them to the third floor then went to the library.

Ami paused right outside of the door, she inhaled a deep breath and steadied herself. She then pushed open the door and walked in with Lita right behind her. "Yaten."

Yaten was lying on a couch his feet resting upon the armrest, his jacket. He sat up and smiled at her, "Ami, how nice to see you."

"You're lucky the King didn't see you lounging like that I don't think he would appreciate the assumed familiarity," she said walking further into the room. She noticed the other man in the room get to his feet and bow to both women.

"My Lady please forgive my counterpart….I am Ronald Knox….." he said stepping forward and extending his hand.

"Oh shut it Knox Ami doesn't give a damn about formalities, she wants to know why I'm here bothering her in her perfect little world," Yaten glared at his sister.

Lita glanced and saw Ami stiffen, "I am Lita, second in command of analysis department and security." She shook hands with Knox both of them eyeing the other pair with caution. "It's good to meet you."

"Likewise my lady…"

"So Ami did any of them even know you were my big sister or were you to ashamed to tell them?" Yaten glared at her.

"I didn't call any immediate attention to our relationship but had someone asked I would have informed them of your existence and occupation," Ami said.

"I'm sure of it…..you mother….."

"Yaten!" She inhaled a breath and rested her hand on her stomach, "What is the purpose of your presence here?"

Yaten stared at her hand on her stomach and then glanced back to her face, "Wait a minute."

Before Lita or Ami could move Yaten was in front of his sister, her hand capture and raised to the ceiling while his other hand rested on her stomach. Lita's hand was at his neck in an instant and Knox had his gun pointed at Lita's head.

All four of them were silent, Ami stared into Yaten's cold steely eyes. "Yaten…."

"You put yourself in such danger while carrying a child!" he yelled at her.

"Ami?" Lita glanced at her friend and then at Knox.

"Settle down Knox," said Yaten without moving his gaze. Knox lowered his weapon and backed away. "Are you insane your putting that child's life in danger!"

"Lita, I'm fine thank you," Lita glanced at Ami quickly and then backed away from Yaten.

"Are you even thinking….!"

"Yaten! Despite your vocal condescension I am very capable of making the best decisions for myself and my child, now I would appreciate it if you removed yourself beyond the scope of my personal space," Ami said.

Yaten however did not move, "children are precious to us, especially children of our family you can't….."

"Do not be concerned brother because unlike you my children do not carry the blood of our family, they are not direct descendants of our mother."

"They possess her legacy….they are just as important….."

"Yaten…." Lita watched as Ami's eyes softened for a moment, whatever was between the two siblings was utterly complicated and messy. Only moments ago Yaten had been at her throat and now in a strange way he was demonstrating a powerful protectiveness of her and her child, and he was even reaffirming her membership of their family despite her adopted status.

"Yaten….we must tell them what the Grand Master sent us here for," Knox said.

Yaten turned his head and acknowledge what Knox had said. Gently he removed his hands from his sister and backed away, he collapsed onto the couch and rubbed his temples.

"Why are you here Yaten?" Ami asked.

"The Grand Master has received information that there have been a string of Demons seals broken," he said. "The Demonti have become concerned."

"As you should be," Lita said she and Ami locked eyes.

"Why what's happened?" asked Knox.

Ami nodded and Lita explained about Serena's kidnapping and the breaking of the bond between her and Endymion. She told them of the little demon girl who had shown herself to Serena and Rei and who was suspected in many of the coven attacks.

"This Demon never said her name or anything that could have identified her?" asked Knox.

Lita shook her head, "No she's given us nothing but glimpses into her depraved mind."

"That's not completely accurate," said Ami the other three occupants looked at her. "Rei said that when she encountered her the demon's aura switch suddenly, complete different as if there was another personality within her."

Yaten sat up, "That could mean that there's another spirit attached to the body, if so that means whomever summoned the Demon and broke the seal didn't take the proper precautions to ward away other spirits. When did the Demon first start showing herself?"

Knox cleared his throat, "Yaten just because the Demon inhabits a female body doesn't mean…."

"Spare me the lesson I know about assumption but it's easier to call it a she for now," he said. "When did it appear first?"

"Several weeks ago to the Princess, she was investigating an attack upon one of our covens branches and it appeared to her with a warning," said Lita.

"We'll need to speak with her and anyone else that has had encounters with the demon we can compile a profile and narrow down the possibilities of the Demons identity….."

"That will not be necessary," the voice that interrupted them was unfamiliar. All four turned to the doorway to see a tall blonde female standing in front of a small black haired child. "The Demon's identity is known, and we have already created a file with all the information that is needed."

"Who the hell are you?" said Yaten narrowing his eyes at the little black haired child, he could already sense trouble from her, trouble mixed with age and power.

Lita gasped and stared at the little girl, "It's you."

She pushed her way forward and smiled at Lita, "I told you that we would meet soon, don't be afraid I am a member of this family. My name is Hotaru Romulian I am a cousin of Serenity's, though I was born long before her. I am a seer and I have come to help you get the Queen back."


	13. Chapter 12

Oh how things are about to change, enjoy ladies and gents. Hope you like this new chappy.

I do not own sailor moon or its characters.

* * *

Seiya inhaled deeply as he stood in the doorway of the large circular room. He descended the steps and glanced to where Kain was lounging, a cup of coffee in his hand, his expression one of boredom. Kain bowed his head to Seiya as he walked by but Seiya didn't return the gesture, instead he glared at the other man then focused his gaze upon the table in the middle of the room. The table was draped in black silk that covered it entirely and reached down to the floor, gold symbols were embroidered on it. Serena lay unconscious on the table while Ashlee stood over her watching the patient, Ashlee's back was to him as she checked and rechecked the other woman's vitals.

"Will she be ready in time?" Seiya stood next to Ashlee but his eyes were only focused upon Serena.

Ashlee looked over her shoulder then back to Serena, "Yes I believe she will be."

"And she won't be harmed?"

"Not physically as long as the demon does the ceremony correctly," Ashlee told him as she picked up Serena's wrist and checked the rhythm of the pulse. When she was finished she put Serena's hand back down gently and looked to Seiya.

Seiya cocked his head and dismissed her, she walked away from the table giving him the privacy he desired. He leaned over Serena and gazed down at her in wonderment, he had ordered Ashlee to dress her to specificity before bringing her down from the guest room and she had done it perfectly. To him Serena was perfect in every way. She wore a pure white dress that was made of silk and lace, it sat low upon her shoulders exposing her perfect skin, the sleeves ended at her elbow, and the full skirt fell down to her feet. Seiya had ordered Ashlee to style her hair a certain way as well, it was loose around her shoulders yet was pinned away from her face and curled.

He traced his fingers over her collar and neck lightly gazing down at her. "You may be able to change her appearance little Prince but you cannot change her completely, she will have fragments of memories things that will seem familiar to her and questions about her body for I cannot change everything."

Seiya glanced over his shoulder at the young demon girl who had not been present a moment before. "Your business is to ensure that the ceremony is preformed correctly not to admonish me about my plans."

She smiled at him, "I may be able to do what you ask but if you cannot uphold the charade then it shall all fall to pieces and you will lose her."

"Concern yourself with something else you pernicious creature," he said turning back to Serena. He lowered his voice and spoke to her gently, "Soon my love, soon you will forget all that pain and that terrifying life." He ran his hand over her cheek again and smiled down at her.

The little demon glared at him then appeared next to Kain, "Why is it you humans are always the architects of your own madness?"

Kain looked up at Seiya and saw the deranged look upon his face, "Perhaps because we are incomplete and we long to be fulfilled."

"You are such pathetic and weak creatures, when you crawled out of the ooze from which you fermented in we had such high hopes for you all, but alas as such, you've disappointed from the moment you became monkeys and climbed down from the trees. Still though…it has always been entertaining," She smiled wickedly and then turned to him, "Shall we begin?"

* * *

Hotaru set her tea down upon the table and looked up at Darien. He was sitting behind the large desk watching her intently, Ami stood behind him to the right, and Lita stood on the opposite side to the left. "My King your image is so nostalgic, you remind me quiet of your father, except less unmovable. Where your father was stubborn to death you possess the sensibility to listen to others."

"I desire now to listen to your story, you told Lady Ami that you have come to us to help regain the Queen," he leaned forward and leaned his elbows upon his desk.

Hotaru looked up at Michelle. Michelle nodded and moved forward, she placed a red leather book upon Darien's desk then backed away and sat down next to Hotaru on the couch. "In there you would find the history of our people my King, but unlike other volumes this one is special. Inside you will read about three guardians who were selected for their talents and their blood, who swore their lives to the servitude of a seer." Darien looked up at her then took the book in his hands, he held it in front of him but did not open it. "It is the only volume that has any mention of myself, Hotaru, or my companion Amara."

"When we accepted the task that was charged to us we were stricken from record and erased from History," Amara said. She stood behind the couch her arms crossed over her chest her eyes on the King, "We were chosen for different reasons, but our mission was to protect and watch over this child, this seer."

"You two?" asked Darien, he pushed the volume aside.

"No there is another, but she left us several months ago to precede our arrival."

"Trista." Amara looked at Lita, "You mean Trista?

Amara nodded, "Yes those who reside on a different plane told us that it was her time to return."

"And are these also those who told you it was time to return?" asked Darien.

"No," Hotaru sipped her tea again, "they fought my decision to leave the safety of our home. But I couldn't watch any longer, I have kept watch, kept record for so long for most of my life, I can no longer sit by an allow it to happen anymore."

"Keep record?"

"When I was of age I was charged with the task of seeing all, of watching our people from the beginning of my life to the end, to record and observe what happened in our world, Valcors, Romulens, all who are apart of our world. I was assigned the task to write it down for it to be kept as our history," Hotaru said. "Ever since I could talk and write it has been my task, because of my visions I have recorded every actions anyone has ever made on either side."

"So the High Elders hid you away and cursed you to be forever silent while you watched the sins of our people," said Darien.

Hotaru nodded, "The Sins, the miracles, the celebrations and sorrows, deaths, life, rebirths, and risings all of it."

"That would be one interesting read," said Yaten. He was sitting in a chair in the corner closest to Ami, his feet propped up on one of the bookshelves.

Hotaru glared at him then looked back at Darien, "A history that only few will ever see."

"And what do you see now?" asked Ami.

Hotaru stared at her, "I see your son being handsome….being strong and worthy of the name that his grandmother bestowed upon him." Yaten sat forward in his chair lowering his feet to the ground and Ami's hand moved over her stomached. "I see his family supporting him to a powerful position amongst the people. But I also see his life in constant danger….I see that love will cause him great pain….but also great happiness, that is what I see." She turned and looked at Darien, "For you King Endymion, I have seen great sorrows, and I see even more sorrows yet to come. You have lost Queen Serenity, she will no longer know herself or you and from now forward you will find her changed."

"What will that human do to her?"

"That I cannot say, because I do not know," she said, before Darien could say anything she spoke again. "It will be some kind of ceremony that will change her but I cannot tell what it's nature is, however it will take a lot of power."

"Can we stop it?"

"Oh no…..it's already begun, she's already changing…..right now in fact, you can't feel it but the spirits are screaming out in protest and agony, Trista should be feeling it about now," Hotaru picked up her tea and took a sip, Michelle noticed how her hands shook ever so slightly. Hotaru was trying to ignore the intensity of the emotions and the screams but it was affecting her in a way that she hadn't expected.

Ami and Lita exchanged worried glances, "How will we get her back?" the doctor asked.

Hotaru looked up at Ami, "You won't unfortunately for you there is no way possible for you to get her back…..now."

"What does that mean?"

"You're not ready to face him, he's protected by a very powerful Demon, the one who's been tormenting all of you for the past several months. He ripped her from hell in order to fulfill his plans and she is bound to him, she protects him and if any of you were to try to harm she'd kill you instantly," Hotaru explained.

"Then how do we get my wife back?"

Hotaru looked up at Amara and Michelle, Amara stepped forward, "That's why we've come my King, we intend to prepare you all for what's coming. We have a plan to help you so that when the time comes you'll be prepared."

Darien stood the rage on his face evident, heat rolled off of him in waves making those who were near step away. "So you are telling me that I am to sit here for however long it takes, and wait while that hell spawn creature and that bastard does what he wishes with my wife!"

Hotaru picked up her tea, "Yes….that is exactly what I expect you to do."

The tea cup in her hand suddenly grew increasingly hot, Hotaru looked up into his eyes but did not remove her hand from the cup. They glared into each other's eyes, neither moving despite the sizzling that could be heard as the cup burned Hotaru's fingers.

"Stop this!" Lita yelled, "Darien I understand you frustration but this girl has come to help us, and if she's right about trying to go against this Demon then trying to save Serena now would only get us killed and then there would be no hope of bringing her back."

Darien glanced at Lita, then his eyes went back to Hotaru, they held each other's gaze for several more minutes before Darien straightened and turned away from her. He ran his hand over his face and through his hair, "Take our guests to their rooms Lita, make sure they have everything they require and set up a time for their….training to begin."

"Yes sir," Lita said. Hotaru stood and walked around the couch, Amara and Michelle followed Lita through the door, neither said a word. Hotaru stopped and turned before she reached the doorway, "My King, we both know how…distraught she's been since losing your child, rest assured that she will find herself in the trials that are to come. She will heal," Hotaru said then she walked away and closed the door behind her.

"You were ordered never to leave the sanctuary," Knox stood against the wall opposite the glare upon his glasses hide his eyes from her. "You broke your commitment."

"You too have broken your vow in the past," said Hotaru.

"Not like this, you've broken a sacred code you were never supposed to be set free from the sanctuary," he said.

"You mean that cage that I was trapped in."

"It was designed to protect you, and to ensure your existence."

"My existence isn't supposed to be protected I am not supposed to exist," Hotaru said her voice tinged with sadness and pain.

"You will be returned, you are aware of that aren't you."

"Perhaps once this is all over, perhaps if this ends well I will go back willingly."

"Then you had better get to work on helping them," Knox pushed away from the wall and walked past her.

"You too, you must help them prepare, that is why you are here you and I both know what the Bishop sent you here," Hotaru said. "They are aware of what is coming, almost as much as I am, they sent you and only you for a reason."

"And what is coming?"

"Destruction, violence, pain, tears, death, with each tick of the clock the doom steps closer and closer. If you want to save everything that we've worked for you have to stop hiding yourself and show them, you have to use your gifts to prepare them, and to teach them."

Knox said nothing, then without looking at her he walked away. Hotaru watched him go, she closed her eyes against the vision of his bloodied and broken body lying on the charred ground. She opened her eyes again and went to follow Michelle and Amara.

* * *

Seiya laid her body down on the bed, he brushed the hair away from her face and smiled down at her. The ceremony was over, the demon had done her job perfectly and had created the perfect being inside of her. "When you wake my love you will understand, I will be there for you and we will once again be together," he said. He kissed her forehead and pulled the covers up around her. He caressed her cheek and gazed down upon her lovingly. "Yes my dearest when you wake it will all be alright."

"Do not allow her to drink blood, if ever she does then it will end and she will return to what she was," said the little girl from the doorway.

"I know what is required of me," he said.

"Good, then it shall be interesting to watch you fail."

Seiya spun around to scream at her but she was gone and he was again alone with her.

* * *

Rei felt a cold seeping into her bones, she glanced over at Jadeite who was speaking with the Pilot. They were only about an hour away from takeoff, she was standing on the tarmac her coat pulled close around her as the rain drizzled down. Mist droplets gathered in her hair and on her skin, she rubbed her hands together, something was chilling the air around them. Rei couldn't stop looking around, she felt a presence, the presence of something foreboding near.

'Rei…..Rei.'

Rei turned around and was suddenly alone on the tarmac, "What?" She looked around, Jadeite and all the others were gone and a fog had rolled in around her. 'Rei.'

"Who's there?" Rei spun around and was suddenly face to face with the little girl again. The air around them stilled and there was nothing but heavy silence bearing down upon them. She stared down at the girl for several long minutes, but the girl didn't look up at her. "What do you want?"

The little girl looked up at her, her eyes were a clear brown and she was crying. "You have to help Rei, you have to go back and give them the message."

"What message?"

"You have to tell them that it's not all lost, you have to tell them that Serenity isn't lost that there is hope, but they have to fight. They have to fight. I'll do what I can but you have fight from your side too, use the girl and the seer, make them understand."

"How can I make them understand when I don't even understand," Rei said.

She looked up at her, "Yes, yes you're right, you should know." Her hand shot out and gripped her forearm before Rei even saw it, "You should know the truth, but be warned it's not a truth you will be able to forget."

Rei felt it, the power seeping into her from the little girl, and she knew that whatever the child was going to show her would be detrimental to them all. "I'll take that chance, if it'll help us I'll take it."

The little girl smiled at her, a real smile, "It's so nice to see you again Rei, you've changed so much without really noticing it."

Rei's eyes widened, "What?" Suddenly she felt a rushing and memories, images, sounds, and spells ran through her mind, none of which were her own.

When it was all over Rei collapsed onto the ground, she heard Jadeite screaming her name, his hands warm on her face, "Rei! Rei!"

"Jed, we have to go, we have to get back as soon as we can."

* * *

Malachite stood before the large wooden doors that stood in front of the Miyagi house. He read and re-read the inscription above the door. He had seen it many years before many times, but now it looked different. He sighed once and pushed open the door, a woman in a light green kimono greeted him with a bow. "My Lord, we saw you arrive, my master has told me to bring you to him."

"That is well appreciated thank you," Malachite followed the woman into the house and then into a large sitting room. She left him with a steaming cup of tea, Malachite looked around the room, he recognized it from long ago. The smell was different and there were small changes that had been made, but for the most part it was all the same.

The door behind him creaked open and Shichinosuke walked through, he stopped and stared at Malachite and then bowed at his old friend. "It has been a very very long time."

"Yes it has," Malachite said, they both sat down at the low table.

"I remember when you were here training with my father, you were almost exactly the same," Shichinosuke said.

"You were only a boy then," Malachite paused, "I was sorry to hear about your father."

"It was several years ago, but I thank you for the condolences that you sent," Shichinosuke said. There was a long pause between them, "Why are you here Malachite?"

"I think you know why."

"Ami sent you."

"Yes, she wants me to bring you in for questioning."

"She thinks I am involved with the group of humans who have been attacking your coven."

"Are you?"

Shichinosuke said nothing then, "I am not, but my…"

"Your son…..Ami suspected as much from her encounter. You must know that you are playing a dangerous game, these humans will betray you as soon as they would kill one of us."

"Their beliefs are different from you own Malachite, they value human life more than Vampire…"

"But those who help Vampires are considered traitors, you have helped Vampires for years as soon as you have fulfilled your purpose for them they will kill you as well."

They were silent again, "You want me to come without a fight."

"Yes if possible."

"That my friend is not possible."

* * *

She was lost in complete darkness, all around her in every direction she could see only darkness. "Hello," her voice echoed into the darkness but was only met with silence. "Hello?" she walked forward but was only met with more darkness.

"Somebody! Anybody! Hello?" She whirled around the skirts of her white dress spinning around her. "Someone!"

She suddenly felt like she was drowning, as if the weight upon her chest was to strong. She clutched at her throat trying to breathe, "Someone! Someone help!" she gulped trying to take in breath but felt nothing.

A noise behind her made her turn but just as she did her eyes opened and she was starting at a pink ceiling made of fabric. She inhaled and tried to calm her rapidly beating heart, she swallowed and clutched at the soft fabric to assure herself that it was real. She let out a sigh of relief and sat up on her elbows. Despite having moved slowly the movement made her head spin, she collapsed back onto the bed and touched her temples.

"I'm sorry my dearest you're going to be a little fuzzy for a while," said a voice from the shadows.

She jumped and looked in the direction of where he was, "Who are you?"

"Forgive me my dearest you must be so confused, would you allow me to let some light upon us or will it hut your eyes?"

She hesitated, "I would like to see to whom I speak."

A small light clicked on and though it was dim she could see his features. Seiya smiled at her lovingly, "I know you must be very confused right now, allow me to explain."

She sat up slowly and fought the dizzying feeling, "Who are you?"

Seiya drew nearer to the bed and sat on the edge furthest away from her. "My name is Seiya my darling, and you…..you are my wife…."

"Your wife?" She looked down at her hand and saw a wedding ring. She stared at it carefully she seemed to remember a ring, "Your wife? But I don't remember…"

"Yes my darling, that is because you were the victim of an accident, you've lost your memory and have been asleep for a long long time, but rest assured I've done was what necessary to bring you back to me," he said with a smile. "I would never allow you to leave me."

She looked at him studying his features, his dark hair and dark eyes seemed familiar, something about him felt familiar but not at the same time. "My name?"

"What?"

"What's my name?"

Seiya blinked, the demon had warned him against this, if he gave her a name that was unfamiliar because the spell was so new it could be broken but if he called her Serena or Serenity it could also jar her memory. He took a moment and thought then gently smiled at her, "What do you think your name is? What do you feel your name is?"

She thought a flood of names came to her, she thought and tried to sort through all the feelings but couldn't remember any that felt significant. The looked down at her hand and at the wedding ring that was on her finger, "Astra."

Seiya hadn't heard her, "What was that dearest?"

"The name Astra, for some reason…..that's what I think," she said looking at him.

Seiya's face was almost unreadable, then slowly a smile grew on her, "Astra means star, yes my darling that can be your new name, if it's what you desire?"

"My new name?"

"Yes my love I have so much to tell you, but I do not wish to harm your mind, for now you shall be Astra," he said. He held out his hand to her, "Come my dear let me show you your home."

She hesitated for a moment, the air around them was thick and heavy, she looked at him something about his didn't feel right but he was familiar, his features, the ring, the name, it was all familiar to her. She smiled at him and too and then took his hand, "Alright."

* * *

From their place in the shadows two eyes watched as Seiya helped Serena to her feet and they left the room. She stepped from the shadows and glared at the doorway where they had just left from. "Damn him," she muttered.

In her own head she heard the other one's laughter, "Oh how ironic, you're dearest friend has chosen such a name and now even though she doesn't even know it she's falling deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole. Does it pain you how you couldn't stop me? Do you feel frustrated that you are so weak?"

"Shut up."

She laughed even more the sound echoing in their mind, "Poor little girl can't even save your best friend, does it frustrate you? Do you want to give up, let me take over don't watch anymore, let me end it all for you again, Sofie."

"You underestimate me demon, you forget I am a lot stronger than you believe, I have something inside my soul that you will never possess and with that, I will save Serenity."

"Pathetic Sofie, you think I don't know what you are, you think I am as foolish as you, you dream little seer. You dream of saving her, of saving them all."

"Keep watching demon, my family will surprise you."


	14. Chapter 13

I do not own sailor moon, or it's characters. Hope you like the newest chapter things are starting to get interesting.

* * *

Rei pushed the doors of the mansion open, she brushed the wet droplets that had beaded on her shoulders, then handed her coat to the first person she saw. The man took it and bowed to her, he uttered a greeting then disappeared. Rei approached the stairs without hesitation, she was halfway up when Ami appeared before her.

"Where's my brother?"

"In his study," Ami said. "Rei have they…."

"We were informed on our way home and…..I was given a vision."

"A vision?"

"By the little demon, or by our…." Rei couldn't speak the words. "Is Cole here?"

"I'm not sure last I heard he was still at the apartment," Ami said.

"You excellency," a young women with auburn hair bowed to then, "The General arrived only an hour ago, he went directly to his room to feed and hasn't been seen since."

"Retrieve him, tell him to come to Darien's study we have things we need to discuss," she said. The young woman bowed again and disappeared, Rei turned back to Ami and was about to speak when another voice cut her off.

"You have seen the truth then Princess."

Rei turned and saw Hotaru standing at the bottom of the steps, Amara and Michelle behind her. "Who are you?"

"A seer who has come to help us, she claims that she can help us find Serenity," Ami told her.

"You've encountered the other one haven't you Princess, the one who aids us from their side," Hotaru said. Rei nodded, and the seer smiled, "You must tell them, all of them, and you must name her to us all" she said.

Ami nodded, "I'll find my brother."

"Your brother?"

Ami waved her hand in front of her dismissingly, "It's a long story, I'll explain later."

"Yes do so," Rei turned to head back down the steps and meet her husband as he walked through the door speaking with one of his underlings. She watched as he looked up at her, then glanced at the party of newcomers and froze. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the blonde member of the group, who was starting right back at him. Rei watched the interaction and hurried down the steps, "Jadeite?"

Jadeite didn't respond, he just continued to stare at the blonde until finally whispering, "Amara."

"It's been a long time Jadeite," she said with an awkward smile, "How have you been?"

"Well….yourself?"

"Fine," she turned to her companions, "I will be along soon, don't wait."

The other two women departed leaving Rei, Jadeite, and Amara. Rei stared at the other woman wondering her identity, Rei had never seen her before. "I had heard that you were married to the Princess."

"How would you have heard that?"

"Well we do watch, a Royal Wedding is not something that would have been overlooked," Amara said.

"Watch?" Rei raised her eyebrows, "Pardon my frankness but whom exactly are you?'

Amara looked at Jadeite, "He's never spoken of me?" Rei shook her head, "How cruel Jadeite I thought out of everyone you would at least try to keep my alive in memory."

"Hurt too much, made things more difficult," he said.

"Still….to forget me completely…that hurts, especially coming from you brother."

Rei jolted, "What?"

Amara bowed her head, "Jadeite is my older brother, I am his sister, though I seem to have been forgotten by him."

"You chose to live the life you do," he spat at her.

"I did, for the greater good I chose to live my life apart from the rest of the world, to protect Hotaru and to guard the history of our people," Amara said. "I do not regret my choice."

"Then I do not regret forgetting you," Jadeite said, before she could respond he had pushed past his wife and was ascending the stairs to the second level. Rei glanced at Amara and then followed her husband without a word to her.

"Jadeite?" she chased him down the hallway towards Darien's study, "Jadeite why didn't you tell me you had a sister?"

"Because she's dead to me," he said.

She could feel her husband's anger, "Jadeite wait!"

He turned and faced her his face full of fury, "Drop it Rei, she choose to walk away from our family in the middle of the War, she betrayed everything we stood for and has no qualms about doing it. She doesn't exist to me anymore so drop it!"

Rei watched as Jadeite disappeared into Darien's study and slammed the door behind him, he wanted to chase after him and ask him about everything, but she knew better. She would wait for everyone else before she entered the room.

* * *

He watched as she ran her delicate fingers over the tops of books and wandered amongst the library shelves. Her long hair was tied back, and the blue dress she wore stopped at her knees, she looked around curious and timid.

"I must credit your restraint little Prince, I would have thought that you would have forced the name of your dead wife upon her," said the demon.

"I took your warning to heart, I didn't want to fracture her mind and break the spell so soon after getting it right," he said staring at her. "She is so beautiful."

The demon glanced over at him and then back to Serena, "Has she experienced any longing for blood yet?"

"No, and she's been taking to human food very well, blackberries are her favorite," he smiled at her as she reached up and plucked a book from the shelf in front of her. She leaned against it and opened the cover.

The demon looked at him again, "Despite your new infatuation with her you do understand that there is still a war going on correct?"

"I am aware, and though I hate it more than anything else right now I must leave her," he said.

"I truly am surprised that in you obsession you would not take her with you," she said.

"If I were it could compromise her, I'm go to a place that she is familiar with, a place that I fear would wake her old self if I took her with me," he told her. "I'll be back in three days, Ashlee and Taiki will remain here with her, you have your orders stay away from her."

The demon smiled, "I will restrain myself from taunting her, however I cannot make promises for my other half she's been fighting my every moment, trying to escape and speak with her cousin."

"Keep her away at all costs if she undoes the spell…."

"Foolish child she cannot undo my spell on her own, it's much too powerful, now the only way for the spell to break is if Serenity herself breaks it," the demon said.

"Then we will have to ensure that she doesn't break it," he said. "No go away I want to be alone with Astra." He walked away from her without another word, she watched him with dark and damning eyes.

'You find this as sick as I do,' said her other self.

'I find this notion of love sick,' the demon responded.

'But also the notion of trying to recreate his dead wife in another,' said Sofie.

'I do not judge the obsession of other beings, what they do with freewill is their own choice,' the demon said.

'Merula you lie…..' she could feel Sofie smiling.

'Go back to your cage sight seer,' Merula snapped. She felt Sofie's soul retreating, but she could tell that she was gaining strength. It wouldn't be long until they would finally have to decide who would remain in this body, and who would be forced out.

* * *

Rei stood before the large group of people who had gathered in the conference room. Trista, Nephrite, Amara, Michelle, and Hotaru sat on one side, while Jadeite, Ami, Yaten, Knox, Lita, and Cole sat on the other side. Darien sat at the head of the table directly opposite Rei. She had gathered them all here because she had a message and a revelation, but now standing before them she was scared to speak.

"What is the meaning of this Rei," Darien snapped, he was impatient, there had been no news on Serenity's whereabouts and not one of the seers or clairvoyants could detect her.

Rei swallowed and then sat down, she inhaled a shaky breath. "When Jadeite and I were preparing to leave….I was visited by the…by the little Demon girl again."

"What! When?" Rei looked at up her husband, she had not told him of her vision, she had wanted to tell them all when they were together, to try and minimize the shock.

"When I had my attack on the tarmac," Rei said. She went silent trying to find the words to explain.

"What did she tell you your excellency?" asked Michelle. Rei looked up at the other woman, her eyes full of only support and pride, despite not knowing her Rei suddenly felt a warmth inside of her, a warmth that gave her courage.

"Yaten, you're here because a demon was lost right, a powerful demon who is belived to have been set free, you're here to observe and report back to the Demonti if you find anything out," Rei looked up at him.

He was glaring at her, "How do you know my mission?"

"The demon…well her other half told me," Rei said.

"Her other half?" asked Lita.

"Remember when I told you I felt that there were two side to her, the dark sinister side that I recognized as the Demon, and then….." her eyes flicked to Cole and then back down at her hands. "Then the other side of her which seemed more friendly to us."

"Yes…but what does that…"

"She revealed herself to me," Rei said. The room stilled and the tension rose, "Why?"

Rei looked up at Hotaru, "Why?" The girl repeated the question.

"She said I deserved to know the truth, then she showed me, all of it or all that she could anyways," Rei said. "Don't you already know?"

Hotaru shook her head, "The Demon blocks Trista and me from seeing inside of them, we know that there is someone within her who tries to help, but the Demon is strong and keeps us apart."

"I see…"

"She revealed herself to you Rei," said Darien.

Rei looked up at her brother, "Yes, she said she wanted to tell us that we can't give up on finding Serenity no matter what, we have to fight."

"An obvious statement," said Lita.

"But there was something about the way she said it, like it wasn't just finding her, like there was something else we were going to have to face….but she couldn't tell me."

"So who is it?" asked Ami.

Rei closed her eyes, "It's…..it's…"

"Is it Aunt Astrid?" Rei looked up at Yaten, who had leaned forward in his chair his eyes boring into her.

Rei shook her head, her eyes found Cole, who was staring down at the wooden table in defeat obviously lost in his thoughts. "It's Sofie."

Cole looked up and directly into her eyes, but it was Lita who spoke, "What? Sofie's dead. She's been dead since…."

Rei never broke eye contact with Cole, "She was wandering in limbo, said she couldn't move on because of the last vision she had before she died. She said that she had foreseen another threat and had to warn Serena about it. When the Demon was pulled from her cage and sealed in the human girl's body, Sofie attached herself to the Demon and was pulled into the body along with it. When they sealed the Demon inside they sealed Sofie. She's been trying to help us but because of their duel personas they fight back and forth for dominance and it drains them both. So far the Demon's been in control, but Sofie showed me that she's getting stronger…..she's planning to take control."

"This is ridiculous," said Lita standing, "You can't bring someone back from the dead like this…Rei are you sure that the demon wasn't just playing with you?"

Rei shook her head, "No she showed me things, visions of our past to prove to me, things only she would have known."

"Like what?" Cole finally spoke.

Rei looked at him then back down at the table, "Your wedding, the death of your daughter, how you blamed each other and yourselves, memories of Astrid and Serena during the war, memories of Sethaniel and…." She glanced up at Michelle. "And his friends…and I felt it, it was….it was her."

The room remained silent for several long moments before Cole stood and walked away without a word. "It seems that the news does not please him," said Hotaru.

"Would you be pleased if the love of your life had been ripped out of her resting place and was fighting a Demon constantly, if the person who you cared about the most was in your sight but not your grasp," said Knox. "Or are those emotions too complex for you seer?"

"Emotions are not complex Ronald Knox, beings are."

* * *

Astra stared at the book in her hand, a historical text from long ago, she read and reread the history of humanity, but for some reason it felt like it was missing something. She closed the book and put it on the table, she had a headache again, something that Seiya told her she would have, it was because of her coma.

She closed her eyes and thought, trying to remember something, trying to recall anything, there were flashes, whispers of voices, shadows, but nothing more than that. She folded her arms on the table and laid her head down, she couldn't recall anything, and Seiya had said many of their pictures and belongings had been lost in the fire. She scratched her head trying again to force something from her memory.

"If you strain yourself the Master will be quite upset." Astra turned around and saw Taiki staring back at her over her glasses. "Ashlee told me to come look in on you, see how you were feeling."

"I can't remember anything still if that's what you mean," she said. She turned away from him back to the stacks of books in front of her.

"what are you doing my Lady?"

"Trying to learn, trying to remember, or…I don't know, trying to remember something."

"You've only been awake for a few days now my Lady, don't try to strain yourself like I said before, you're brain will heal itself," he drew nearer to her.

"Yes I know Ashlee and Seiya have both said the same things, the coma only did so much," she repeated their words. "But Taiki, what…what if my memory never comes back what if it's gone for good?"

Taiki sat down across the table from her and studied her from behind his glasses, she squirmed under his gaze, she couldn't shake the feeling that he was staring through her and not at her. "If you don't remember you don't remember, that is all there is to be said."

"But I want to remember! I want to know who I was, where I came from!"

"Se…..Astra it's….sometimes it's better not to remember things, sometimes a fresh start, a new beginning is best."

"You talk as if there was something terrible in the past, as if I shouldn't try to dig it all up," she said.

"No, nothing terrible….but maybe something should remain in the past, look….forward towards the future that you've been given with the Master, and the opportunities you've been given."

Astra started at him, "I supposed." She grabbed another book and began flipping through it.

Taiki stared at the Vampire Queen, like this, with her memory gone and her identity erased she seemed harmless, like a true human female with vulnerabilities. But as she watched her he saw it, it was still in her body language, the way she sat perfectly straight in her chair, a sign of royal teaching. How she moved so gracefully, and somewhat faster then a normal human, how despite the demons spell, she had an unearthly glow in her eyes and from her skin.

Seiya could change her name and her memories, but Taiki saw her still as the Vampire Queen, she was still Serenity and as soon as Seiya realized that he no longer wanted her Taiki would be there to take her head.


	15. Chapter 14

Sorry its been so long guys this Teaching program is killing me...hoping that your summer is going well I'm going to try and start updating regularly again :) love always dma

I do not own sailor moon or its characters.

* * *

"My Lady?"

Astra looked up at Ashlee, "I'm sorry did you say something?"

"I asked how you were feeling?"

"Oh I'm…well," Astra said. She had been staring down at her left hand, at the gold ring that she wore. For some reason it was still strange looking to her, as if it wasn't supposed to be there. "I've been having trouble sleeping lately, but other than that I've been fine."

"Trouble sleeping?" Ashlee took out a flashlight, "Follow my light with your eyes." Ashlee clicked it on and held it in front of the other woman's eyes. Astra followed it up and down then side to side. "Good, your reactions are better," Ashlee clicked off her light and slid it into her pocket. She checked Astra's reflexes and breathing while Astra told her about her dreams and why she thought she wasn't sleeping, as she spoke Ashlee noted all the changed in the blonde's physiology.

After they had changed Serenity the demon had told them that it would take a while but the Vampire Queen would slowly start to turn human. Ashlee had been monitoring her progress since the completion of the spell. The former Vampire had started to eat a variety of foods now, less meat more vegetables and fruits, she no longer had as great a sensitivity to light, though they had yet to allow her direct contact with the sunlight, and her body was beginning produce human hormones that Vampires didn't have. Her hair was growing faster, and her heartbeat was starting to even out after being erratic for almost two weeks.

"Ashlee…"

The Doctor looked up at Astra, "Yes my Lady?"

"Will you tell me something," she asked as she looked down at her hand again.

"If I can tell you I will," Ashlee turned and began readying a syringe, she was going to take a blood sample from the other woman.

"I….I feel out of place, as if….as if I don't belong."

"That's natural after an ordeal such as yours my Lady you were in a coma for several years, it's okay for you to feel such displacement, it'll take time but you'll adjust," Ashlee wouldn't look at her, she was almost sure that if they had been face to face Astra would have been able to tell that she was lying. She didn't know if the Vampire Queen would ever be able to fit in with their people, even if she did completely turn human she was still considered an enemy by almost everyone in the house. She was one of the very people that they had all dreamed about killing and it was highly unlikely that they would ever accept her even with the changes.

"Yes, I know Seiya keeps telling me the same thing that I have to give it time, that I may never remember and that I have to recreate my life. It just seems so hard, no knowing who I am," Astra said. She looked away from the doctor and back down at her hand, "It just seems like I'm in a dream a dream that doesn't make sense….maybe that's why I can't sleep."

"What has Lord Seiya said about this My Lady?"

Astra looked away, Ashlee sighed, "It's normal for you to feel like this my Lady, the loss of your mother, your father, and your sister all of it is coming down on you at once, it would be stranger if you didn't feel out of place."

"They're not often spoken of, my…family…mother…father…sister…none of them…I can't remember them."

"You suffered extensive trauma before entering your coma my Lady you received a severe blow to the head which caused damage to your frontal cortex you may never recover those memories," Ashlee told her.

"How am I to live my life not knowing who I am?"

Ashlee stared at the woman in front of her, she knew her to be the cold blooded killer, a Vampire who fed off the blood of the living and manipulated humans for sport. But as she stared at the woman she couldn't help but feel a sense of pity, she was alone in the world, completely lost and ignorant of everything and had no identity.

Ashlee remembered when she had once been the same, as a child had been raised by a family of thieves and cons, all she had known was how to manipulate people and exploit them for their worth. Then one night her family, running from the police, had stumbled into Lycan territory and been massacred. Ashlee had barely escaped and when she did wander back into society she had no name, no identification, no family, nothing. She had been forced to rebuild her life from scratch, it had taken her years but she had finally been able to scrape her life together and create something of herself. She understood better than anyone what it was to not known who you were.

"Well then, perhaps, the best thing to do is embrace this life, despite the confusing nature that it is, use it to create a new life from what you have been given," Ashlee told her.

"A new life?"

"You are…a blank slate you have not past, and the future is unwritten, what you do with your life from this moment on is your own choice." She smiled at Astra and turned away, "You're clear by me my Lady, healthy and getting stronger every day. I'm sure you're hungry, I'll let you get dressed and see you at lunch."

Ashlee turned away from Astra and left the room, she closed the door behind her. "So sentimental," the demon stared at her from across the hallway, "Telling the very woman who has brought such misery to your life that she has a chance in this world, you and I both know that it's a dream."

Ashlee said nothing, "you know Doctor aren't you fascinated by her…a creature of the night who feeds on blood and was born practically as an abomination, turned into a human. Don't you wonder what your precious little Prince gave up?"

"It's not my business, what Seiya does with his own life is his own decision, I merely help."

"You're so devoted to him, too bad he doesn't give a lick about any of you, you're all disposable to him, save her. Keep your wits about you Doctor sooner or later the little Hamlet will drown you all."

* * *

Darien punched the large sandbag several times his fists blurs in the air, attempting to free his frustration and anger he had decided to let himself loose in the gym. He had taped his knuckles to protect his skin, but it didn't matter, the tape had been virtually useless after he had broken through the first punching bag. Three lay on the floor all ripped open and shredded, he had not been able to control his anger since beginning.

He threw a powerful punch at the current one hanging from the ceiling and he felt his hand go through the bag once more. He withdrew his hand and sand poured down around his feet.

"I hope you know we're running out of those things," Rei leaned against the door frame of the gym staring at her brother.

Darien looked over his shoulder at her and glared, "Any news?"

"If there was I would have come to you directly," she said pushed away from the wall. "Darien…"

"Don't tell me that I need to sleep Rei, or feed, or do anything else that everyone keeps telling me I need to do!" He ripped the empty bag down as he yelled and threw it with the others.

"I was going to tell you that Amara's a proficient fighter if you wanted to take you anger out on her."

Darien turned around and looked at her, he knew she was being sarcastic but he also sensed hostility towards the other woman. "She is his sister Rei, there's nothing to be concerned with."

"I know that, but why didn't he ever mention her?"

"Maybe because he knew you'd react this way," Darien unwrapped what was left of the tape around his bloodied knuckles and sat down on the metal bench near to them. Rei sat down next to her brother, she glanced at his knuckles and sighed.

They were silent for several minutes before she finally spoke, "Do you remember when mother died?"

Darien looked up at her, she was staring across the room at the wall. "You were young and upset."

"I was devastated, I thought the world was ending and that nothing would ever be right again," Rei said. "I felt empty and alone and cold, and then my brother," she turned to him. "My brother who had been hardened by War and battles, by our father's constant betrayal and the politics of our people, my brother came to me and wrapped me in his arms and told me that I had to be strong because mother wouldn't want to see me cry."

"What does this have…." Rei's arms came up and encircled him, she pressed his ear to her chest and rested her head atop his.

"You have to be strong, you have to lead your people, because when Serenity gets back she's going to be seriously pissed off if you've let everything go to hell while she's been gone."

"Rei…."

"No," she pulled away from him and took his face in her hands, "You've been like this for weeks, and I've let you be like this, but now you need to be strong again, you need to be the vicious throat ripping King that I knew you to be during the War, you need to lead your people and then you will find her."

Darien stared at his sister for several seconds, "Are quite you finished?"

"Yes."

"Then remove your hands," he stood, she dropped her arms and took a step back. he stared down at her, "Call Cole and Yaten it's time we became more aggressive towards these humans."

"Yes brother."

* * *

Astra stared out of the window at the sunlight. She was hidden in the shadows of the ballroom, the light spilling onto the floor at her feet, if she took another step she would be in direct contact with it. She wanted to go into the light, she wanted to step into the large rose garden just beyond it looked so beautiful and inviting, but for some reason she had a fear, her body and her soul told her not to take another step, it told her that the light was dangerous.

"My Lady?" she turned to see Kain watching her from the open doorway. His hands were in his pockets and he stood casually staring at her.

"Is it silly?"

Kain shook his head, "No my Lady you always had sensitive skin, you burned very badly once and it took a few days for you to recover."

"I suppose that my body remembers it more than I do, every time I try to convince myself to step into the light I can't seem to move my feet," she said her eyes wandering back to the garden.

"I see, you're afraid my Lady?"

"Terrified," she looked into the light, "But enthralled at the same time, I want nothing more than to step out there and touch the light, to feel it, to bask in its warmth, to see the roses, but…."

"Perhaps my Lady you need…." He stepped closer to her, "A little push." Kain wrapped his hand around her wrist and began to force her towards the sun.

"No! Kain stop! I can't! Don't" she dug her heels in trying to stop him and clawed wildly at his wrist her nails ripping at his flesh, "Kain stop!"

She closed her eyes as he pulled her out into the bright sunlight. She waited for pain, for burning, for death…..but nothing happened. All she felt was the warmth of the sun on her face and the summer breeze against her skin. She opened her eyes and looked up into the bright blue sky, she put her hand over her eyes to shade them and basked in the sunlight.

"Kain….this….it feels…foreign," she turned to look at him. He was staring at her with an expression that she couldn't read, "Kain?"

"The last time you were in the sun my Lady….you burned, take care not to stay out here too long," he turned and walked away from her back into the house without another word.

She watched his retreating form then turned and stared at the pink and white and yellow roses. There were thousands of them all beautiful and bright. "It's so….." she walked through the garden allowing her finger tips to graze over the petals. She turned a corner and found herself in the middle of a thousand red roses, she gasped and images of red ran through her mind, blood and screaming. She looked down and saw it on her hand staining her clothes, and she could taste it in her mouth.

She stumbled backwards and fell onto the grass, she scrambled to get away but again she saw images. Of a battlefield dyed red with blood, a voice, her voice spoke. _"Look our blood….it's the same there is no difference…..this war….it's futile."_ She closed her eyes and tried to block out the images she covered her ears trying to block out the sounds, there were people all around her littering the battlefield all bloody.

"Sometimes little things trigger terrible memories." Suddenly everything was silent again, save for the birds singing in the background, and the blood was gone.

Astra opened her eyes and looked up to see the little girl in the red dress staring at her. "I don't understand what…what was that?"

"A memory most likely," the little girl kneeled down in front of her staring at her with soft brown eyes. "What did you see?"

"A…a battlefield….covered in blood….I was covered in blood, and I…I could taste it…" she said. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to stop her shaking.

"Some memories are pieces of something greater, scary things aren't always supposed to be scary my Lady." The little girl sat down and crossed her legs, she reached out and pulled a rose from one of the bushes then she began to pick the petals off one by one.

After several minutes of silence between them Astra spoke, "I haven't….met you before, I mean I've seen you but we haven't been properly introduced."

The little girl looked up at her, "No I suppose we haven't been."

"What's your name?"

"Mine? I have several names, all different for different reasons," she said pulling off another petal and letting it loose in the breeze.

"Well what would you like me to call you?"

She smiled at her, "Call me Sofie. My name is Sofie."

"I'm Astra," she smiled at the other girl.

Sofie nodded, "Astra….I knew someone once with that name."

"Really?"

"Well it more of a name close to that one," Sofie said. "It was a dear friend of mine, she died but….she's always with me."

"What was her name?"

"Astrid."

It was like a switch was flipped in her mind, images of an older motherly women with light hair and blue eyes flashed before her. A smile, a comforting caress, a laugh, a frown, a song, comforting arms…_"As a Queen you are looked to as an example."_

Astra touched her head, it had begun to throb and the pain was terrible. "I think I should lay down."

"Headache?"

"Yes I should go lay down," she said.

"Yes you don't need to strain your mind after such a traumatic ordeal."

"Traumatic ordeal?" Astra looked up at the little girl.

"Your memories, having them come back rushing, after having them sealed away for so long it must be traumatic," she pulled another petal off and let it float away with the wind.

"What do you mean sealed?"

Sofie looked up and locked eyes with the other woman, there was a long silence that stretched between them, "Your coma I mean."

Astra blinked, the look in the girls eyes was veiled, as if something was being hidden behind them. "Oh….I….yes I understand."

"Go rest my Lady you'll need it."

Astra got to her feet and then nodded, "Yes…it was nice meeting you." She turned and scampered off into the house.

"Very clever," said a voice from behind Sofie.

She looked up, "You as well, forcing her into the sunlight like that, one would come to believe that you almost wanted her to remember her past."

There was silence from behind her, "Tell me Kain where do your loyalties lie?"

Suddenly her hair was yanked back and a blade was pressed to her neck, "Your existence is troublesome, you are playing a fame with people's lives, people that I care about all to ensure the reunion between your King and Queen. I won't hesitate you slit your throat with this if you continue to antagonize the situation!"

She began to laugh her eyes never changing, "Your existence is the troublesome one." Kain was suddenly thrown back ten feet and landed on his back. He looked up at the girl staring at him, he blinked and then she was in front of him. "Remember human I am not just a spirit anymore, if you continue to try and get in my way and change my plans I will eliminate you, without hesitation."

Kain smiled up at her, "And here I was told that you were a kind and gentle seer."

"Not when it comes to my family, or my people." She took a few steps back, "You'll do well to remember your place and to reconsider the path that you walk." She turned and disappeared behind a rose bush leaving him to his thoughts.

* * *

Rei pushed the door to Cole's office open and was met with a dark room, but it was not empty. She could smell Cole, she stepped inside and closed the door. With the light from the hallway gone it was almost pitch black, she walked over to the window and threw open the drapes allowing the white moonlight to shine through.

"Why didn't she come to me?"

Rei turned around and saw Cole sitting in a chair against the far wall, his chin held in his hand, his right leg crossed over his left, he wore dark blue suite pants and a grey shirt.

Rei sat down on the small couch that was next to the window, "Cole…"

"I'm her husband….was her husband…." He muttered he ran his hand over his face. "I watched her die Rei, I watched her die and wanted to go with her but…."

"Perhaps she knew your despair, and that was why she didn't come to you."

"If she needed anything, any messages she knew I would get them to Darien, she knows my devotion to our people….and to her," he said as he ran his hand over his eye.

"Cole I remember after she died, how miserable you were perhaps she wanted to spare you that misery for a while longer."

They were silent for several minutes, "Has she come back to you yet?"

Rei shook her head, "When I sleep I get visions sometimes, of different things nothing that I understand or can decipher, it's all jumbled but…"

"You know it means something," he finished, Rei nodded.

"I've talked to Hotaru about it but….she can't figure out the meanings, or she won't tell me."

"Probably more along the latter reasoning," he said. "She wouldn't be showing you these things if they didn't mean something. They're probably connected to Serena."

Rei nodded, "Have you been able to speak to Tula yet?"

"No Ami's keeping her in the coma for now says that the strain could break her mind, or even do worse damage."

"I'm sure that's frustrating," Rei said. "Darien wants to be more aggressive now, that's part of the reason I came down here, he wants to have a meeting in a few hours to talk about how to force these humans' hands."

"If I know them we won't have to wait long, something's brewing, even I with my limited telepathic ability can feel it."

"Ami sent Malachite to Japan," said Rei.

"I'm aware…..he still hasn't returned?"

Rei shook her head, "Miyagi is proving difficult he escaped Malachite's grasp a few weeks ago and gave him the slip, he's been tracking him ever since."

"That man knows his country better than anyone else, it's going to be difficult for Malachite to find him."

"True however if he keeps running than he won't be able to help the others humans."

"You think he's involve?"

Rei nodded, "Ami is convinced."

"Why?"

"Who knows, maybe a grudge? Maybe jealous, could be anything."

There was silence between them for several minutes, "How is Ami….and the child?"

"Well, she's been having the same issues as every soon to be mother, doting husband, overprotective brother, everyone fussing over her, but no serious issues besides that."

"I'm sure…." A pounding on the door interrupted them. "Enter."

A young woman with dark brown hair opened the door, "Sir forgive my interruption but there's been another attack….."

Cole and Rei exchanged glances and stood, "Damage report?"

"Not yet sir, we've only just receive the news."

"Where at?"

"Glasgow Sir…."

"I need the London covens to move as soon as possible, and anyone else near there," he picked up his coat and pulled it on.

"Cross is in Bath, he can be there in a few hours," Rei said.

"Good I need as many people as possible on the scene, ready the jet I'm going to head out…."

"Sir….."

Rei and Cole stopped and stared at the girl, "There's something else…."

"What?"

"It's about General Cross, he wasn't in Bath, he had gone to Glasgow to see Lady Tudoun…..Sir he was their target they've taken him and all of his possessions."

"Cole he has all of our tactical information, as well as all of our database backups…" Rei's eyes widened in fear.

"Send word to every coven and every affiliate we have, evacuate every safe house," Cole and Rei looked up, Darien was standing in the doorway behind the young woman. She jumped and bowed to him, he ignored her and continued. "Every one of our informants needs to be picked up and secured, anyone affiliated with us needs to be moved and protected."

The girl nodded and turned to leave, "Freeze all financial assets, restrict movement of any large sums of money to the councils and the Royal Family, we need to monitor everything." Rei looked at Cole, he nodded at her suggestion, then at Darien, his eyes were raging with fire but his face remained impassive. "Implement all firewalls and security protocols….." the girl nodded to leave but Darien stopped her again.

"Activate program 9357."

The girls eyes widened in fear, "Your highness?"

"This is a level 1 security breach, we need to treat it as a hostile declaration of War. It's time these humans remembered their place on the food chain," Darien turned and stormed down the hallway.


	16. Chapter 15

I do not own sailor moon or its characters.

* * *

The grass was taller than she was, much taller, and it was scaring her, she couldn't find him. Above her the dark grey clouds rumbled with thunder, it was mid-day and she should have been inside hiding from the sun, but the thick clouds hid the dangerous rays, it was one of the few times she had been out during the day and she was nervous. She pushed through the tall yellow grass looking, listening, trying to smell for him, but he was too good he was using the grass, and the dirt, and the humidity to hide his scent. "…." She felt her mouth move but couldn't hear the words. "…"

"Here," she turned she saw him dash through the grass and disappear again, "Find me!"

"No!...thaniel!" she yelled at his form even though she knew he was gone. "….thaniel!" Thunder rumbled above her and a bolt of lightning split through the heavens. "….Thaniel!"

"You can do it … you can do it! Find me…." His voice was in her head soothing her trying to calm her, she had hated storms as a child.

She kneeled down, and closed her eyes, she wanted to go home and crawl into her bed and read her books but she knew the only way that would happen was if she found him. She inhaled and tried to sort the smells , the rain, the lightning, the dirt, the grass, the wind, and him….she could smell him, she could feel him, hear him. She opened her eyes and after a moment was moving across the field in a blur, grass whipping around her. She could feel him, she was getting closer and closer then she saw him and launched herself into his arms tackling him to the ground.

He wrapped his arms around her and petted down her hair, "Good job….you're getting faster and better," he said.

She sat up in his lap and looked up into kind eye. "…..aniel, can we go home now?" she asked him.

"Not yet little one," he brushed her bangs away from her face and smiled down at her, "Lay down with me S….. we get so few moments away from father and all the politics."

He pulled her down and she was staring up at the sky, he laid down next to her "Close your eyes S….., close your eyes and listen."

She did and suddenly thunder crashed above them, she flinched and whimpered. He took her small hand in his large one, "Hey, don't be scared it's a symphony only we can hear, listen….the humans they've lost the ability to listen they can't hear it anymore….listen."

She opened her eyes and stared into the gray swirling clouds, watching as they turned and twisted gently into darker and lighter shades. When the next crash of thunder sounded she wasn't scared anymore, but she felt it inside of her heart, it matched her heartbeat for a moment and she felt it reverberate through her. The rain drizzled upon the leaves and the ground hitting the earth at different pitches creating a symphony, the lightning too had its own sound. It cracked across the sky and lit the clouds but it wasn't scary anymore, it was like a rhythm slow and steady every few seconds.

"Se...el….." she grasped at his hand but felt only air, she turned and he was gone. She lifted herself to her feet and looked around, but he was gone, and she was taller than the grass now, she stood over it a grown up now, no longer a child.

"Se….el…. I can't see you," she yelled. The world around her grew darker the clouds above fading into the darkness, the sounds being muffled by the dark, she yelled again but couldn't hear her own voice. She felt her lips moving and her vocal cords vibrating but no sound came out, the silence and the darkness was deafening. She closed her eyes and felt tears running down her face. She couldn't think the darkness was jumbling her thoughts, she didn't know what to do and she felt panic rising.

Click….click….click…click…

She opened her eyes again and though it was still dark around her she could see something in the shadows, something that wasn't a part of the darkness.

Click…..click…..click…..click…click…..

It wasn't random it was in a pattern and it was quickening. She walked towards the sound.

Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.

She ran towards it, she saw it taking shape but before she could recognize it a large black curtain fell down in front of her and blocked her view. She grabbed the curtains trying to pull at them, trying to find a seam, trying to pull them back but there was just more and more curtain wherever she pulled.

Clickclickclickclickclickcli ckclickclickclickclickclickc lick

Finally she found the seam and pulled, the curtains flew open and suddenly an explosion of light and a scream…. "Se…na!"

* * *

Astra bolted up in bed with a scream, it took a moment but she recognized the dark room around her. She placed her palm to her forehead trying to stop the pounding. There was movement in the corner of her eye and a flash of red. She turned and saw nothing, but she was positive that there had been someone there.

There was pounding outside in the hallway then the door flew open and crashed into the wall. "Ma'am we heard you scream are you alright?" a man dressed in black army gear stood in front of her, he had dark red hair and grey eyes, she had seen him before a few times around the grounds. His hand was at his hip as if ready to draw a weapon, she wondered on whom.

Astra shook her head, "No no I'm fine….just a dream…..where is Lord Seiya?"

"He is…..with a guest…." He said.

"A guest?" Astra looked over at the clock on the bedside table; the green numbers read 3:44 A.M. "What kind of guest arrives at such an early hour?" she looked back at the red head.

He hesitated then smiled, it unnerved her, it was depraved and menacing. "An involuntary one."

Astra stared at him, "What does that mean?"

His smiled widened, "Perhaps my Lady you should see, we caught one, a strong one we'll get what we want now to be able to destroy them all."

Astra shivered, "What do you mean? Who are you talking about?"

"Perhaps her Ladyship would like to see," said a small voice from behind the large red head. He stepped aside and Astra saw Sofie standing there in her recognizable red velvet dress. "I'm sure that his Lordship would like you to escort the Lady downstairs, it is after all a glorious achievement for our house."

Astra stared at Sofie, in the last few days she had learned there were two parts to Sofie, a darker version with black eyes who liked to play nasty tricks and say mean and spiteful things, and then the other one, the kinder one who had soft colored eyes. She locked eyes with the girl wondering which one she was, her eyes were soft, but they were hiding something. They were considering her, challenging her, willing her to go downstairs.

They stared at each other for a few seconds more, "Take me to Lord Seiya." She threw the blankets off and reached for her robe on the chair next to her large bed, she swung her legs to the floor and wrapped the white silk robe around her. It, like her white nightgown, swept the floor. "Take me to him, now."

The red head smiled at her, "Yes my Lady, come and see." He turned and stepped around Sofie to lead her to Seiya. She hesitated on the threshold for only a moment then followed him. There was a buzz about the house, excitement and tension, as they passed several people it seemed as if everyone had been woken by the excitement save her. She followed the red haired man down to main level and towards the ballroom. She saw a large group had gathered around the door, many were craning their heads and standing on tip to trying to get a look at what was happening.

As they moved closed to the group Astra heard sounds that made her stop, grunting yelling, Seiya was yelling at someone, and from the sounds hitting them as well.

"Move!" said the red haired solider as they drew near. The large group parted and allowed them to reach the doorway. The solider opened the door and moved aside to allow her to see. She gasped and her hand flew to her chest.

In the middle of the room was a man kneeling before Seiya. His arms had been chained to the ground to keep him from escaping, his head was bowed and hidden by a mane of dark hair. But this was not what shocked her, it was the blood and the deep gashes that covered the man's body. There was blood pouring from his wounds and gathering around him on the floor. The crack of a whip made Astra jump, the man cried out in pain and she heard the ripping of flesh. Her eyes moved upwards, Seiya stood behind the man holding a whip in his hands, his white shirt was covered in blood, his hair was slicked back, and his eyes were empty and cold.

Astra stilled with fear, she had never seen him like this before, she hardly recognized him and she didn't want to look at him. Her eyes drifted around the circular room, Ashelee stood off to the side watching, her arms were crossed over her chest and her face was passive and emotionless, but Astra saw her hands clenching and unclenching and she could see that she was biting the inside of her lip.

Kain stood near her looking as if nothing strange was going on, he stood hands in his pockets his face the same emotionless one that he usually had. His gaze drifted over to her and remained locked on her. Astra couldn't look at him, she turned and saw three others around the room that she didn't recognize, and then her eyes landed on Taiki, who was sitting at a desk typing on a computer trying not to watch what was happening.

"Your king never break easily," said Seiya. Astra looked back to him, he was winding the whip up in tight circles. Only then did she realize that one side of the whip was covered in small bloody hooks.

She brought her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes trying to forget the sound of the ripping flesh.

"Isn't it amazing ma'am we've caught one alive, one who can help our movement," whispered the red haired solider near her.

"What is this man's crime?" she asked staring at his bloodied form.

"Crime?...He's one of them, he's a born killer, a human hunter," he said.

Astra turned to him confused, "What?"

The solider looked at her confused for a moment, "He's a Vampire of course."

"Vampire…." Suddenly a vision of a dark haired woman with sharp fangs, a bloodied mouth, and rage filled eyes flashed in her mind. Before she could analyze what she had seen she felt a sharp pain in her head, she cried out and touched her temple.

"Astra?"

She looked up and saw Seiya staring at her, he looked down at the man before him and then back to her. He hesitated for a moment, "Why was she brought here?" he demanded of the solider who had brought her.

"Ahh Sir….I thought she'd want to…."

"Shut up," he dropped the whip and came towards her, she backed away instantly. Seiya stopped his face contorting to pain, "Astra you don't have to be afraid of me."

Her eyes moved from his face to his shirt splattered with blood. He followed her gaze then returned his eyes to her, "Forgive me my love, I didn't think, of course you don't want to touch this man's blood."

"Kain, please." He turned and began to strip of his shirt, she looked over his shoulder at the man on the ground.

She stepped into the room, "Seiya, who is he?"

"A common criminal, he was caught trying to steal from us," Seiya said casually.

'_He's lying.' _Sofie's voice whispered into her ear, _'He is a general.'_

"A general?" she said aloud stepping nearer to him. He seemed to react to her voice, he shifted and she was almost sure that he was watching her.

There was silence around her then Seiya spoke, "He was a general in a rebel army, now he is nothing more than a mercenary."

She saw a flash of blue, her eyes met his and a sense of familiarity stirred within her. "What did he want with us?" she asked, taking another step towards him.

"He was trying to infiltrate the castle," said Kain. "He was….."

Before he could finish his sentence the man struggled to his feet and lunged at her, she screamed and tried to step back but she slipped in the blood pooled on the floor. She hit the ground hard, the blood seeping into her nightdress. She looked up at the prisoner, his cold hand shoot out and wrapped around her ankle, she grabbed at the floor as he pulled her towards him.

There was screaming and yelling from behind her but she didn't hear anything, he was kneeling above her, his bright blue eyes gazing down at her. They stared at each other for a moment, blood dripping onto her face from his soaked hair, she swallowed and tried to calm herself despite the complete fear that consumed her.

"Sere…..ni….ty….." he choked out at her. A cold chill ran through her and she felt the fear disappear, she stared into his eyes and recognized them. "Sere…..ni….ty…." She couldn't place it but she knew him.

"Who…are….you?" she whispered.

His brow creased and he stared at her a moment, then without warning he opened his mouth, she saw his two sharp fangs only for a second before he plunged them into her neck. She screamed out in pain, pain from the bite but also pain from her head. This feeling was familiar, she closed her eyes and saw a dark haired man naked and on top of her biting into her wrist, but it wasn't painful, she remembered pleasure.

She screamed again and then felt the heavy weight of his body disappear. She opened her eyes and saw two soldiers dressed in black hauling the man away from her. As she watched him she again saw his fangs and she was jarred back from her daze. She scrambled away from the scene before her and pressed her hand to the wound on her neck, she pulled it away and saw her own blood. She began to panic and started yelling.

Ashelee kneeled down in front of her, "Let me look my Lady!" She pried Astra's hand from her neck and began examining the wound. There was a loud bang, Astra jumped then looked, Seyia was standing above the man who had bitten her, gun in hand, the man was slumped on the floor motionless.

He turned and without dropping the gun came to her side, "Is she alright?"

"My Lady?"

Astra looked back to Ashelee, who was now holding a flashlight in her hand, "Please look here." She did, "Her pupils are normal and she's not reacting to the UV, I don't think it's broken."

Seiya nodded, "Good then we need to stitch that up as quickly as we can." Seiya wrapped his arms around her and pulled up, "Come my love we need to patch you up, I'm sorry that this happened."

"Seiya….what….what was he?"

He looked down at her his eyes hesitating, "Once you are healed I will explain everything it's time you knew, but please let Ashelee help you first."

Astra nodded, Ashelee took her by the shoulders and led her from the room, before the doors closed behind them she heard Seiya speak, "Send the body to them in pieces." She felt a cold chill run down her spine.

* * *

Ami ran her hands through her husband's long hair, his ear was pressed to her stomach, his eyes closed in concentration. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, she could hear the heartbeat, it was strong and had a good rhythm, their baby was growing healthily.

"Should I come back later?"

"Yes," said Zoicite without a moment's hesitation, he didn't move from his spot his hand carefully pressing on her stomach searching for the baby.

Ami looked up to see her brother standing in the doorway of her office, Yaten was casually leaning against the doorway eating an apple. He rolled his eyes and moved into the office. "Sorry but sister and I have some things that we need to discuss."

"You have a meeting with Jadeite and Cole in a few moments don't you," Ami said placing her hand on her husband's head. He sighed and then moved, he was at eye level with her now.

"I'll be back soon," She smiled at him and leaned forward to kiss him.

"Don't worry we aren't going anywhere, and Yaten's not going to upset us anymore," she glanced past her husband to her brother, who was now slumped down in one of the chair across her desk.

He held up his hands in defeat, "I'm not doing anything."

Zoicite glanced over his shoulder at the younger man then turned back to his wife, "She doesn't need any stress Yaten, it's not…"

"Healthy for the baby, yeah yeah I know all about it."

Zoicite glared at him, he turned and kissed his wife then stood, "Make sure you remember it." He brushed past the younger man then left the office, pausing at the door to look at his wife only momentarily.

"What is it now?" Ami said looking at him.

"I've received orders form the Order," he said looking at her.

Ami raised an eyebrow, "And?"

"The Demon, I've been given orders to remain here as a representative of the Demonti until we have resolved the situation."

Ami raised her eye brows, "This I thought that was obvious."

"I've also been ordered to give you all access to our records, resources, and databases," Yaten said. "We're at your disposal."

Ami eyed him suspiciously, "And unofficially?"

"Unofficially we're supposed to watch how your administration reacts to the situation, I'm supposed to spy on you while Knox spies on the seer child."

"I see, and may I ask why you are telling me all this?"

Yaten glared at him, "I'm just trying to rebuild bridges."

"Especially after you found out about my child," Ami said. "Why is that?"

"Your my sister," he muttered.

"You haven't spoken to me in almost 50 years, Yaten tell me what's inspired this change."

He was silent for several long minutes before he spoke again, "That girl, I've met her before."

"Hotaru?"

Yaten nodded, "She…last time we met she made a prophecy….about our family….about your son…"

"A prophecy?"

"She said that one of our family would give birth to a child that would help change the future…I didn't believe her knowing that because of my position in the Demonti I wouldn't be allowed to have children, and I never thought you would have children because of the War. Then when it ended I didn't consider it happening because most of our family was dead, and you were a part of the Royal Assembly. I figured it would be too dangerous for your to have child, then when I saw you…."

"You realized that the prophecy was about my son."

Yaten nodded, "Ami….you were always mothers favorite."

Ami laughed out loud, "Me? Oh Yaten after you left she was never the same…..Yaten when did we start hating each other?"

Yaten scoffed, "I never hated you Ames I was jealous of your life, I was jealous of the time you had with mother."

"And I was jealous of the freedom you had, you who knew your life and family and purpose, I never knew any of that being adopted I feel like I missed half of myself," Ami said. She placed her hand on her stomach, "Yaten….I knew that despite our little revelations we aren't….fixed…..but if anything were to happen to Zoicite or myself, I would want you to take care of him."

"Me? You have all the members of your Assembly, Lita, Mina, Nephrite, Rei….they're better candidates…."

"You are family, and though I trust them with my life, my son his future is too precious to trust with anyone," Ami said.

"Ames that's a huge…."

"Yes but your my brother and despite all your faults, you turned out pretty well," she said smiling.

"So you think."

* * *

Astra stared out of the window as the first white light of down brightened the world. She sighed and touched the bandaged on her neck. She was still shaking when Ashlee had taken her to the medical ward, cleaned, and bandaged her neck.

The door behind her opened, she turned and saw Seiya staring at her, his shirt was changed and the blood had been washed from him. He looked exhausted and tense, "Are you alright?"

Astra nodded, she saw down in large chair, Seiya sat down across from her and leaned forwards his forearms on his knees. "I said I would explain….I understand that this may be hard for your to accept Astra, but that man, the man who attacked you was a Vampire."

Astra didn't react, she just stared at him emotionless, he continued. "It's a little hard to accept but they do exist….Astra they were the ones….." he looked away from her. "They were the ones who killed our families."

"What?"

"You don't remember because of the amnesia and the coma, but that night the fire your father, he set it after the Vampires attacked and killed most of your family," he reached out and took her hand. "Your family supported hunters, those who kill the Vampires, they trained them, and hid them, they supplied them with weapons and supplies, they also financially supported them. They've done this for Centuries….you see many many hundreds of years ago two powerful Vampire covens began a War. It was a terrible War that engulfed everything, even innocent humans, they suffered the most getting caught between these two warring factions. Families, innocents murdered all to sedate the bloodlust of these Covens.

"Finally a group of humans grew tired of this and began to fight back, these hunters began protecting humans from the tyranny of these Vampires, and then families like yours began to help as well by creating a black market. Your family was one of the most powerful families in the human underworld, the Vampires….the Vampires began to fear them, and in order to protect themselves Endymion, the Valcorian King, ordered that they be eliminated."

Seiya brought Astra's hand to his mouth and kissed it, then he pressed it to his forehead and closed his eyes, "My love they attacked and kill all the hunters who were hiding here, they murdered your mother in her bed, they killed your sister as she tried to escape, they had injured your father and in order to ensure that they not escape he locked down the house and set it ablaze….you and I….we barely made it out."

"You were here?" she asked.

"Yes my love, my family was killed during one of the battles between the Vampires, I was the only survivor and after I recovered from my injuries your father brought me here, I trained with the hunters and became one of them, after the fire, after we saved you we rebuilt your home and rebuilt our group. All these people here, everyone is a hunter or supporter…we've continued the legacy of your family."

Astra sat silent for a long time, "He terrified me, that man."

"I'm sorry my love I never should have let my guard down with him so near to you, it would make sense for them to try and kill you you're the heir you're the one who can lead our people against the Vampires," he clasped her hand between both of his and stared at her with hopeful intensity. "We're stronger than ever and have such support, we've already been mounting an attack against the Vampire Empire and in a few short years we will be able to bring them to their knees, humans will be able to take control again and for them back into the shadows where they belong."

"Join us my love, take the place that you're father intended for you to take, become our leader."

Astra pulled her hand away from his and stood, she moved back to the window and was silent for several long minutes. "I am not a leader Seiya, you are these people they follow you blindly anyone could see that," she turned to face him. "But I will help you, train me, give me the strength to avenge my family." Her eyes were ablaze with hate, she remembered the fear she had felt when the Vampire had attacked her. She thought of her sister, her mother, her father, and all the innocent people who had felt that same fear. It angered her, they had no right to involve them in their Wars, the Vampires had no right to rule over them.

"Teach me," she said "Teach me how to fight them."

* * *

There was a knock at the door, Amara looked up from her book at Michelle, who was reading over several large scrolls. "Are you expecting someone?" Amara asked.

Michelle shook her head, "No…" she looked through the door into the other room where Hotaru was silently sitting on a couch sipping tea and staring into the fire, she had not acknowledged the fact that someone had knocked.

Amara stood, "Enter." The door opened, Ronald Knox and Yaten walked in. "Yes?"

"We've come to observe the child," Knox said, he glanced through the doorway at Hotaru.

"I think that is higly inappropriate," Michelle said.

"Whatever you think we have a declaration from the Demonti ordering us to keep an eye on her," Yaten said.

"The Demonti have no power over us, we do not answer to them," said Amara.

"You have no right to refuse me access to my…." Knox began but a crash from the other room stopped him.

Amara and Michelle exchanged a look and were at the door instantly. Hotaru was standing in the middle of the room staring into the fire, a teacup in pieces on the floor next to her.

"What's wrong little one?" asked Michelle as she came into the room and kneeled down next to the little girl.

Hotaru turned to her, tears ran down her face, her eyes full of anguish. "I saw it wrong….the future….I….I was mistaken….I can't see it anymore."

"What?" Michelle took the younger girls hand. "What's happened?"

"Darkness….it's coming, it will take….the child…." She muttered.

Michelle looked up at Amara, the blonde women turned around, Yaten's face fell. "Ami…." He turned and ran from the room. Suddenly the entire house went dark and a blood chilling scream enveloped the entire house. Yaten tripped over something in the hallway and fell to the floor, he pushed himself up on his hands and waited a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

"Ami!" he got up and ran towards her office. "Ami!" He pushed past people as he ran full speed down the hallway. "Ami!"

Michelle gripped Hotaru's hand in the darkness. "Serenity…..she had been engulfed….she Princess…..the Princess…."

Michelle turned and saw Amara disappear through the door as well.

* * *

Rei stood from her desk, for some reason her eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness. She felt like she was blind, she heard movement in the corner, a swish of fabric. "Who's there?"

There was a low laugh, a laugh that she recognized. "Sofie!"

Rei took a step forward but stopped, she couldn't see anything, "Sofie…."

The lights flicked back on, Rei blinked and unexpectedly felt a sharp pain in her chest. She looked down and saw a silver dagger covered in blood sticking from her chest. She inhaled and blood filled her lungs, she collapsed to her knees, she tried to hold herself up with her right arm but couldn't her weight and fell to the ground.

The Demon stared down at her, "You're too much of a threat."

Rei coughed and more blood filled her lungs, "See you around Princess….." the Demon back into a corner and melded into the shadows. Rei heard loud bang before she passed out.

* * *

"Ami! Ami!" Lita looked up and saw Yaten running towards them, she pressed herself against Nephrite sandwiching him between the wall and her body. Yaten passed by without a word and skidded around the corner.

"What was that about?" Lita said removing herself from Nephrite. She stared down the hallway then froze as she heard a low laugh. She turned around and saw the little girl in the red dress her eyes pure black. Nephrite moved in front of her and held out his arm protectively.

The little girl smiled, "You should be more concerned about yourself." She held up her hand and smiled darkly at him, she snapped her fingers. There was a sickening crack, Nephrite screamed out in pain and collapsed onto the ground.

"Nephrite!" Lita dropped to the ground and was about to turn him over.

"You might not want to do that, you could sever his spine," said the little girl.

Lita looked up at her, "Why? What have we done to you?"

The little girl smiled, "Nothing I just needed time."

Lita blinked and the little girl was gone, she turned and saw the hallway deserted. "Someone…help! Help me! Someone help!"

* * *

Yaten kicked open the door, upon first sight the room was empty, but Yaten could smell blood and panic. He entered the room, "Ami?"

"Yaten…." Her voice was weak, he turned and saw her laying against the bookshelf in the corner of the room behind him, a pool of blood gathering around her.

"Ami," he ran to her and skidded to her side. "Ami….Ami….what do I…."

"It's gone…" her face was empty and pale, her lips pale white and dry. "The….it's gone…I can't hear it." Tears streamed down her face, her eyes looked at him but they were unfocused. "Ya….ten….it's dead."

"Ami….Ami….Ami!"

* * *

Darien laid his hand down on the cold ground, he kneeled in the depths of the forest the chilly wind blew around him but he took no notice of it. He sensed her arrive.

"So have you come to kill me?" he stood and turned to face the woman who had stolen his wife.

The small demon girl stared at him with her smirk, "You've lost Endymion, your house is fractured, your generals demoralized, your people will turn on you soon enough, and then you will be eliminated by the very had that made you…..if you want I can end you know….and save you a few more years of pain."

He stared at her and then a smile broke out on his face.

"What, what are you smiling at?" she snarled.

"You know so little about us," he said.

"I know enough, I know what you will have to become to destroy us….can you do it…can you lock it all away, can you become that person again?"

"To get her back….I'll do whatever it takes."

They stared at each other for several long minutes, then the Demon smiled. "My my my perhaps this will be interesting."

Darien blinked and she was gone, the cold wind whipped around him. Darien turned, he could hear the chaos rising up from the mansion, he inhaled asked her to give him strength then returned to duty.


	17. Chapter 16

"You cheated….."

The Demon child looked at her reflection in the mirror, "I did what I needed to do."

"You made this all much more complicated," said Sofie glaring back at her from the glass.

"I needed more time, this will give me exactly that."

"You sacrificed the lives of innocent…."

"What do I care about innocents? I needed more time to grow stronger and you need more time to fade, now all of it works," Merula smiled. She neared the glass and stared at her counterpart, her gaze unfaltering, "Did you really think I didn't have a plan of my own? That I would just somehow forget what my goals were? Silly little seer your naivety amuses me."

"You know I won't allow myself to fade," Sofie said defiantly.

"You won't have a choice. Time is your enemy not mine I have all the time I need, you however…well let's just say that your time is limited."

Merula turned away from her and ignored the protests Sofie made. She walked down the hallway, men and women scrambling to get out of the way. She turned around a corner and stopped dead in her tracks, she smiled darkly. "Shichinosuke Miyagi, I knew your great-grandfather," she narrowed her eyes at him, they were alone in the hallway. She studied his face, in his eyes she could see the similarities between him and his ancestor. "You know he helped them trap me."

"And you should have remained trapped," he muttered, it was barely over a whisper but she heard him.

She glared, "Your family has always been masters of deceit….were you able to lure him?"

She saw his body tense and she smiled, "Good I want to see him." She turned and the world around her spun into darkness, then she was standing in front of a cell deep under the castle.

She drew near to the door and looked through the small opening, "Very good, and he even brought him here in one piece." She backed away with a dark smile, "Poor little Andromeda will have to deal without having daddy around." Merula turned and walked away from the sleeping Vampire chained to the metal table within.

* * *

Cole watched the security footage from the hospital playing out on his computer, the demon child had entered the hospital and in a matter of seconds had eradicated the security officers who had been placed within the building. She then proceeded to the wing with private rooms and found Tula's room. He watched as she entered, then exited a few moments later, her hands and dress soaked in blood. She stared up at the camera and smiled, then she disappeared from the hallway.

He clicked the mouse on the screen and the scene changed to another private room in another part of the hospital, the door was open and the room beyond dark. The little girl emerged a few seconds later her face now splattered with blood, her mouth dripping with it, again she looked into the camera, the picture flickered for a moment and then she disappeared.

The door to his office opened and a young man entered, "Sir."

"Damage report from the King's Mansion?"

"Nine are critical Sir," he said looking down at the list.

"Names?" Cole stood and began pulling his coat on.

"The Princess for one, she was stabbed through the chest, we called in as many surgeons and healers as possible but it was silver, the last report from the hospital was that she was still in surgery."

Cole nodded as he fixed his collar and tie, "And the others?"

"Lord Nephrite's back was broken two of his vertebra were shattered, he is also in surgery. Lord Jadeite was also wounded Sir, they've prepped him for surgery and we are waiting on the update. Lady Cassandra, Lord Malcon, the Ambassador from the Southern Lycan clan was also attacked, the Two representatives from the European Covens, and another young agent."

"The seer?"

"Still at the mansion Sir, however one of her attendants has disappeared."

Cole nodded, "I didn't expect them to stick around long, and the King what has he ordered?"

"Sir…."

Cole stopped and looked up at the young man, "Sir this was delivered several moments ago." He held up a cream envelope with Endymion and Serenity's symbol on the front. "The orders were for your eyes only."

Cole took the letter and ripped open the top, he unfolded the letter from within and quickly read. He closed his eyes and sighed then turned from the younger man. He pulled out a lighter and lit the paper then dropped it into the garbage and watched it burn. "And the list of the dead?"

The young man's face fell, "Sir….there are five."

* * *

Trista snapped the book in her hand shut and looked up at Endymion standing in the doorway. "My King I assume this visit is…."

"Spare me Trista, you know what's happened, you know what they've done."

She nodded, "They are trying to topple the Empire that you've built."

"How am I to stop this from happening, as much as I hate it that little witch is right, we are fractured."

Trista stood and replaced the book onto the shelf where it belonged, "My Lord right there….she taunted you, mentioning the old ways."

He paused and looked away and into the distance, "The way I was before I met Serenity….that's what she meant."

Trista nodded, "Perhaps that is the King that we need…..the Princess already addressed this issue with you." He said nothing in response, "Perhaps my King we need that man."

"That man was hated by many."

"But respected and feared, perhaps these humans need to begin to fear us again."

"Call for Caleb, Lucius and Anthony. Have them report to our stronghold in Italy tell them I need them there as soon as possible." Darien turned away from her and left the room without another word.

Trista smiled and bowed, "Yes my King."

* * *

"The Vampires Headquarters have been attacked?" the elderly Demonti Priest turned to face his young white haired companion. "The Vampire King?"

"Alive your grace, but missing."

"The Vampire Queen, is she too still missing?"

"Yes Sir, she has yet to be seen by any of our agents and it's becoming public knowledge now that she was kidnapped, many are presuming her to be dead."

"I highly doubt that the Queen is dead," said the older man. He resumed his slow walk through the stone archways, "Knox?"

"Still there Sir, along with Yaten."

"Yaten…I assume that there is tension between him and his sister."

"Knox says that they have been getting along Sir growing closer, ever since he found out she was pregnant…"

"Pregnant," the elderly man paused again then smiled, "So his prophecy is coming true, good that young man was always troubled." He resumed his walking and said no more.

"Sir orders?"

"Lend whatever aid we can to the Vampire Coven, they will be our strongest allies in the upcoming battles, send any supplies, materials, or personal we can spare."

"Right away your Grace…Sir there was also another development." The young man paused, his mentor turned to him, "Sir Serik's wife and daughter were both murdered by the demon."

"I see, then our worst fears are confirmed, inform Knox but tell him to keep the information classified until it becomes necessary."

"Yes Sir." The younger white haired man bowed to his mentor then disappeared.

The older priest sat down on a stone bench in front of a large mural. He sighed and put his hands on his knees, "Oh my old friend the troubles that have been set upon your people." He stared up into the face of the young man painted in the picture. "I fear that we cannot win this battle, that this will be the end."

"Giving up hope is not something that he would have done father," said a woman's voice behind him.

The older man turned, Michelle smiled down at him kindly. "Able to step into the sun again I see" he said glancing at the bright light enshrouding them.

Michelle smiled and sat down next to him, "One of the most precious gifts you gave me papa."

The elderly man reached out and touched Michelle's face. "You made a promise never to leave that place, I resolved myself to never seeing you again and yet here you sit before me."

"There is good that comes from your longevity father, though I see it's gifts waning," Michelle's eyes searched over her father's face.

"I am growing old, and tired…five hundred years has been more than enough time for me though, I do not fear death any longer, not as I did. No when my time comes I will greet him as an old friend."

"That time is not now papa," Michelle touched his cheek brought his attention back to her. "I need your help."

"Yes, you were able to come so quickly after…"

"I used….I used a summoning spell, I transported myself here," she said.

"A dangerous spell at your level my dear…"

"But a necessary one, father I need your help I need to know everything about this demon, she's a threat to everything that _he_ designed. I need to know how I can save Serenity."

The old priest smiled gently, "You cannot forget your debt can you."

"It's more than a debt father….I loved him….I have to save her, for him."

He waited his eyes searching her face, "Then my girl come and I will teach you all the things that I know."

The stood together, Michelle paused and stared up at the painting. "You were able to capture his likeness."

"I wanted it to be your wedding present, a portrait of yourself and your new husband, however I was only able to paint him before the tragedy," he looked up, "I talk to him often as if he was still here."

"We all miss him papa," Michelle said. Her father nodded then turned and began to shuffle away, she waited a moment and turned back to the painting, she touched her fingers to her lips then touched the golden name plate that was under the painting. "I will save her Sethaniel….I promise."

* * *

18 Months Later

Yaten flipped through the pages of the large book on his lap, his feet were kicked up onto the desk in front of him. "I'm sure the King wouldn't be happy about you putting your feet up on her desk."

Yaten looked up at Knox, he was leaning against the doorframe his hands in his pockets. "The King hasn't been here for months and I'm sure that when he does come back my feet upon his desk won't be the first thing on his mind."

Knox said nothing, "Are those the reports from the field?" Yaten nodded and flipped to another page, "Tell me?"

"They're becoming more and more aggressive, attacking Vampires who live independently away from Covens, and some who have been in hiding since before the end of the War…."

"So our theory was right someone's been feeding them information," Knox said. Yaten nodded and removed his feet from the desk.

"Have we any orders?"

Knox shook his head and took off his glasses, he began to clean them with his jacket and then replaced them on his face. "None, Cole is still in Taiwan trying to do damage control, Mina's been wining and dining all the ambassadors who have been trying to push their agendas, Lita's buried herself into her work again, Jadeite's a no show, still off chasing wild geese, Zoicite's been…."

"And Ami?"

Knox paused, "She's trying to run every scrape of DNA from the last attack sites, trying to find a match in any human or Vampiric data base….I don't know when she slept last."

Yaten stood and threw the book onto the desk, "Well you'd better send your reports into his Grace before the night is up or he'll get worried."

"Worried?"

"Worried that he might have lost you," Yaten stood up and straightened his clothes, "I'll go speak with Ami."

"How's she doing?" Knox asked.

"The same," Yaten brushed his hair back, "Throwing herself into her work, she won't talk about it…..losing the baby was…traumatic."

Knox stared at his friend, "Yaten, she didn't just lose the baby, he was ripped from her."

Yaten sighed, "Yeah….I know….took a lot more than just that baby."

"It's not gone yet," Knox said.

Yaten stopped at the door, "How's the girl?"

"The same, she still hasn't spoken."

"Well maybe someday she'll come back," Yaten fixed his shirt and then left the room.

Knox stepped around the desk and flipped open the reports, he sat down beginning to read where Yaten had left off.

* * *

Astra opened her eyes and came face to face with the green grass and a world upside down. Her blonde hair cascaded around her head creating a veil, the sunlight shone through her blonde tresses. She heard the creaking of the rope as it held her weight on the tree limb, its grip around her was firm. She swung her body back and forth gaining momentum until she finally was able to swing herself right and use the momentum to bend and grab the rope with her hands.

She pulled herself up and began to work at untying the knot around her ankle. Once she had gotten it untied she glanced around, saw no opponents, and let herself drop backwards. She closed her eyes and reveled in the sensation of falling and being weightless. She flipped mid-fall and landed with cat like grace on her feet and hands. She paused and waited for movement. She glanced left and then right assessing the situation and formulating a plan for escape. She inhaled a shallow breath and then took off through the garden with unparalleled speed. She ran past the flower beds and the roses heard the whiz and pop of bullets as they flew behind her hit various targets destroying the scenery.

She reached a high wall and began to pick up her speed. She threw herself into the air and cleared the stones rolling to her feet she came up holding two wooden sparing sticks. Three men stood waiting with similar sparing sticks, they were dressed in full kendo gear. Astra glanced at all three of them she adjusted her grip and her footing. All three of them moved towards her at the same time each one attempting to hit her, she blocked and parried their attacks, hitting one of the men in his side she heard a crack and knew that despite the padding she had probably broken a rib.

"Sorry," she said as she deflected a hit from one of the remaining two and swung her stick at the other. She hit him in the shoulder and then in the stomach sending him flying. The third pulled back and readjusted himself, readying for a one on one battle with her. Astra cracked her neck to the side and then took her stance. He came at her first with full fledge intention of crippling her, Astra spun around him deflected the attack and then smacked him hard across the back sending him into one of the rose bushes.

"Well done my Lady," Astra looked up at Kain, who was slowly clapping for her and had been observing the entire show. "However, I'm not sure how pleased our Lord will be when he sees that you've done so much damage to the rose garden."

"Roses can grow back, training cannot be feigned when one is on the battlefield," she said dropping her sparring sticks and pulling her hair into a band.

Kain let out a small laugh, "You did love these flowers once."

Astra walked up to him, "Beauty is an allusion, and a frivolous one at that." She continued past him and into the house, he followed. "We should be using our time to train and practice our skills, not gardening orphan roses. Have you submitted my plans to Seiya?"

"I sent them via email last night, he said he would look at them and that he would speak with you later, he does however insist that you find some time for rest my Lady, do more recreational things."

Astra pushed the curtains out of her way and walked into a large open library, she made her way over to a table where a water pitcher and glass were waited. "Email him again and tell him to look at them as soon as possible, the quicker we get an approval the quicker we can move forward."

"Lord Seiya does have a point Mistress, you should allow yourself more recreational….."

She slammed the glass she had been filling down on the table, "Why is it that you all tell me to take recreational lessons whilst our people are out there being murdered by the Vampire King! I understand who I was Kain, I understand that before I was…..I was a simple society girl who was breed to be a wife to a leader, but you cannot deny that my contributions to this movement have been just as valuable as any else."

Kain said nothing, "Have I not proven myself, battle strategy after battle strategy? Finding the holes in their defenses and helping to create the most effective attack plans? I may have _been _simple once, but having my life almost ripped from me, having my family and friends, and all those innocents slaughtered before has ignited a fire that burns my core. They are the enemy and instead of worrying about my health we should be working to ensure the safety and security of future generations!"

She picked up the glass and threw it against the wall, time seemed to slow down. She heard the glass as it rushed through the air, the cracking before the shatter as it smashed against the wall, she heard the tiniest droplets splatter against surfaces.

She closed her eyes and dug her palm into her forehead, "I hate this Kain, what's wrong with me?"

He remained silent as he watched her, something was happening to her body, though the spell wasn't wearing off and she was still essentially human, there had been some changes in her body. Her Vampire senses were returning, she was stronger, faster, could see better, hear better, she was flexible, and her mind was sharper. She was able to think at a faster rate than those around her, she saw the holes in plans and found quick ways to fix them before any of the others even considered them a problem.

Kain knew what was happening, he understood it, Seiya didn't. Astra was having a type of muscle memory, Serenity had been to War she had studied strategy and combat, she had been raised around it and learned how to become an efficient leader. Her body and mind were relishing in the fact that they were once again being used in such a way, it made sense when one thought it through, she was conditioned to be a leader and so when presented with the task she rose to the challenge. Seiya didn't understand it however, he didn't know why she wasn't acting like the docile little human she was supposed to be, why she didn't practice dancing, or drawing, why she didn't care for the gardens anymore, why she would tie her hair up instead of take the hours to wash and perfect a style. He didn't understand why she wasn't Aurora.

But he allowed her whatever she wanted, he almost never said 'No' to any of her requests. Kain's theory was that Seiya kept hoping that she would tire of the battle meetings and attack planning and return to simpler things. Kain knew better, Serenity was Serenity, the name didn't matter, the hairstyle, the clothes, she was who she was underneath, nothing would change that. It was her true nature, ]\ he was beginning to understand that, and she was realizing it as well, that her nature was in direct conflict with the identity that had been thrust upon her.

At first she had tried to hid it, tried to restrain herself from the process, but after so many failed attempts to assassinate members of the Romulen Covens she had stepped in and made them listen. Then she had simply suggested them to listen, finally she had pushed them to listen, after that she forced them to listen, and now there was no fight. She was right, she had proven her worth to them.

"Kain," he looked up at her. Astra hadn't moved yet, her eyes stared at the shattered glass and splattered water. "I feel skittish in my own skin," she said it slowly allowing each word to sink in. "Like I shouldn't be…..this way…"

"There is no other way to be My Lady," he watched her, not a muscle moved. "You are you."

"But I'm not am I," she turned to him and he saw the tears of frustration in her eyes. "I'm not who I was before I went to sleep."

And for a second he saw something register in her eyes, something that was deep inside of her clawing to get out. She grabbed her head and stumbled backwards, she tried to grab onto the edge of the table but missed and tumbled to the floor.

Kain rushed forward and grabbed her supporting her back, "Are you alright?"

Her eyes flitted around the room, as if trying to find something familiar, "This…..this isn't right…..where…..where is….." then she closed her eyes as if in excruciating pain. She shook violently in his arms, her body seizing, then finally she stopped and was still again.

All was silent, save the birds outside chirping in ignorance. Kain didn't move, he knew he should call for Ashlee or Taiki but he hesitated, he wanted to see….

"Endy….." she moaned in her sleep. "Where…..are you?" her voice was the faintest of whispers but he could hear it.

"What happened?"

Kain didn't turn to Ashlee, he continued to watch as the blonde's eyebrows furrowed and she breathed her husband's name out again.

"Kain!"

"She had another seizure," Ashlee dropped down in front of him and put her hands to Astra's head. She lifted her hand and checked her pulse.

"What was she doing?"

"Having a glass of water," he told her, his eyes not leaving the face of the woman he held.

"You should have called for me, how long did it last?"

"Only a moment," his voice was low.

Ashlee glanced up at him then back down, "Quickly we should get her to bed, she'll be groggy when she wakes."

* * *

"They're becoming more and more frequent Sir, this is the third one in a week," Ashlee stared at Seiya's haunted face over the video screen.

"Can _she _make the spell more powerful?"

Ashlee shook her head, "I don't know Sir, every time we've asked her about it she's laughed at us and disappeared into her room, refuses to come out."

"Tell her I order her to answer!" he screamed. "She must adjust the spell, whatever she needs give it to her, I refuse to lose her again!" The screen clicked off.

"He never really got her back," Taiki said from his desk his eyes never leaving the medical report in front of him. It was Astra's latest test results. "Her body is continuing to change at an alarming rate," he took out his red pen and circled two areas on the paper, "Here, and here."

Ashlee flipped the file closed, "I've seen the report, what I'm concerned with is the memories that are beginning to resurface."

"Memoires?"

"Taiki she's remembering her past, her real past."

"The demon said it's impossible…"

"No the demon said it had never happened before, not that it was impossible."

Taiki paused. "You think Serenity is fighting?"

"I think that whatever we're doing isn't stopping her from changing back. It's her natural state, the body, the mind wants to a Vampire, she wants to be a Vampire. I don't think there's any way to stop this."

"Don't tell the Prince that he gave a piece of his soul for that spell."

"Humans often trade their most precious gift for the merest prize." Ashlee and Taiki looked up and saw the Demon staring at them, a large smile on her face.

"You! We need to talk to you," Ashlee began.

The Demon glared at her, "Silence human, I haven't come because you asked I came because I wanted to come, to give you a message."

"What message?" asked Taiki.

"There's been a prophecy, one shared by the brat, myself, and that whore Trista."

"A prophecy about what?"

The Demon smiled, "The end of your World."


	18. Chapter 17

Been So long I know...it's in the progress...Merry/ Happy Christmas! This is a present ^.^

Much Love~DMA

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or the characters.

* * *

The air was warm around her, there was slight humidity in the air yet not an uncomfortable amount, the light breeze from the open French doors blew in the smell of the orchards. The smells and sounds around her were mesmerizing; the blooming plum trees mixed with the salty air from the Mediterranean. In the distance she could hear waves and the sounds of the village a few miles down the road.

She inhaled a deep breath and tried to relax when suddenly she felt movement from within her. Startled she sat right up and placed her hands on her large rounded stomach. She was still as a statue for only a moment then she felt it, the slightest movement, the baby was moving. "—rien! –rien you have to feel her!"

He appeared next to her in the blink of an eye, shirtless, dark pants, tousled hair. She smiled at him, "She's moving." She watched as he kneeled down next to her tentatively, his fingers twitching, trying to hold back the desire to reach out and touch his wife's stomach. She smiled as his hesitation, he had been like that since they had realized she was pregnant. She suspected it was because he feared being the kind of father his own had been. She took his hand and placed it on her stomach, she held it in place firmly so he wouldn't retreat from her and their daughter, they waited in the heavy silence then it happened again suddenly, the baby moved.

"She's there," she said smiling. "She's really there," she grasped his hand tighter and tried to pull him onto the bed.

"—rena, can I…." she saw the trepidation in his face, he was scared, he'd never admit it, but he was. Scared of not being a good father, scared of not living up to the task, scared of being like his father had been, there were so many fears running around inside of his head all the time that even she had a headache from it.

She smiled at him, "She's your daughter too."

He hesitated again waiting, then slowly he climbed onto the bed, she lay back and waited. He placed his hand on her stomach and waited then slowly he lowered his head and pressed his ear to her stomach. He closed his eyes and waited. They both were silent…..then she moved again.

His grip on her stomach tightened, "I can hear her. Shes….."

"She's making sure we don't forget her," she felt him smile into her stomach though she couldn't see it. She raised her hand and began running her fingers through his dark locks.

"She's going to be strong like her mother," he said his voice slightly muffled.

"And smart like her father."

"She'll be as beautiful as you are," he told her.

She smiled, "She'll be a quick learner and adaptable like you."

His grip tightened, "She'll be kind and forgiving…"

"She's going to be a handful."

"She'll be fair and just…." The words began to swim around them echoing around the room.

"She'll be a leader…" she could hear their voices overlapping with each other, still the same tone and full of love.

She began to get dizzy from all the things they were saying,

"She'll bring peace. She'll bring happiness. She'll unite the Covens. She'll be a good leader….." then finally she heard the last sentence spoken together in perfect unison. "She'll be….ours."

Without warning there was suddenly silence and he was gone, she was alone on the bed, the world around her darkened, and the warmth had disappeared. "Dare-" she called for him. "Dar-" She scrambled off the bed, "-en" something moved outside in the garden beyond their bedroom. She took a few tentative steps "Dar-"

Suddenly she felt a stabbing pain in her stomach, her knees buckled beneath her and she grabbed onto the wall to steady herself. She touched her stomach, it was flat again, and her nightgown and the floor beneath her were stained dark red. She clutched at the nightgown's hem, and in an instant understood, she collapsed and let out a primal scream.

* * *

Astra shoot up in bed, knife in hand ready to slash the first thing she saw. She was met with an empty bedroom, her eyes glanced around her searching but found nothing. She lowered her hand and let the knife fall to her side. She was breathing hard and trying to organize her thoughts. She touched her stomach, there was an ache there as if something was missing. She fell and tried to remember her dream, but could only piece together small fragments, quick blurry visions and muffled voices. She remember dark hair and warmth, fears of family and the smell of something salty, a smile, love immense love, and safety. She clutched her heart, there was also the feeling of being completely and utterly safe, which was something that Astra had not known for a very long time. Even here, since waking up she had been confused and slightly cold inside, she felt uneasy and jittery, not safe, not like a person feels in their home.

She turned over onto her side trying to calm her breathing as she lay, it was difficult so she tried repeating a mantra over and over again inside her head , attempting to dull herself. But it was near impossible her mind was racing around in circles, jumping from one thing to another. What was it that was trying to push through? A memory? A feeling? She knew it was important but the more she tried to hang onto it the faster it slipped away.

"You know they say that dreams are memories of a past life." Astra grabbed the knife again and shot up in bed; the little girl was sitting across from her in a chair, shrouded in darkness. In her hands was a small brown teddy bear, "they say that dreams can tell us the truth of who we were, who we are, and who we will be in the next life."

"I know nothing of the next life or the life I had before this one, all I have is this life and what I make of it," Astra stared at the girl, she didn't sense the animosity and hatred from her, this was the other one, the calmer one.

They stared at each other in the heavy silence till finally Astra lowered her hand and loosened her grip on the knife. "Past life, I feel like the life I had was a past life."

"Twas you died and returned, creating a new life, a separate life from who you were before, creating a new identity," the little girl turned the stuffed bear around to face her, she stared into the two black buttons that were its eyes. "Sleep like the one you were lost in is a form of death," she pressed her finger to the bear's nose. "What do you dream of Princess?"

Astra was silent for several heavy moments, she considered telling the little child a lie, but then thought better of it. Out of all the people around her she had the distinct feeling that this child, evil or not, always told the truth, or some form of it.

"I dream lots of things that make little sense to me, perhaps they are memories of a past life, memories of a time long gone….."

"Do you dream of your family?"

"I dream of a man…..of a child, unborn…."

"You dream of your husband."

"I think…..I think it is someone called husband….."

The little girl looked up at her, "Yet you don't call him by his name."

Astra locked eyes with the child, a moment of understanding passed through them. Though the man in her dream was called husband and the love between them was strong, that man was not Seiya, the man was someone else.

The little girl smiled darkly_, "Bridges break and tumble down, yet your feet set safe upon the ground. Blood flow fresh and desire unbound; turned hearts, forgotten souls finally be found. Bonds that break and crack and creek, strengthen and firm no longer weak. To see truth in the seer's eye, chains fall into red dyed tide. Throats get cut, blood to blood, clears the mind to see need see."_

Astra felt a chill run through her body; goose bumps prickled her skin as the little girl chuckled. "Tell me little Princess, what is it you truly remember?" She chuckled and the light within the room began to dim, Astra looked around as the shadows grew, there where whispers coming from somewhere in the dark, someone calling names, not her own but others that sounded all too familiar.

The whispers suddenly stopped and Astra looked back at the chair where the child had been was empty, the lights slowly began to brighten. Astra let out a long breath and fell back upon the pillows once more to try to calm her mind and make sense of the words that the little girl has spoken. She closed her eyes trying to think she focused on her breathing trying to clear her mind.

A rapping at the door and her naming being called in a hushed tone jolted her from her meditation and broke past the flimsy wall to her thoughts. "My Lady the Vampires have attacked one of our cells in Angkor, the generals are gathering within the hour, you must hurry."

"Understood Leia," Astra jumped from the bed and rapidly went to her closet. She heard footsteps retreating from her door and knew that Leia was no longer waiting for her. Astra didn't care, it was dangerous for Leia to be doing what she was doing anyways.

Ever since Seiya had left the Generals of their Rebellion army had frequented their home. Plans had been made in secret and despite all the knowledge and strategy that Astra had to contribute many times there were secret meetings that she was excluded from. She had figured it out quick enough and had secured ways to be informed whenever these meetings were taking place, Leia was one of those ways. The girl had promised loyalty to her in exchange for safe passage for her family. They were poor and wanted to flee their country, Astra had promised that she would ensure their safety, and the deal had been struck. She only had an hour to ready herself before she would once again fight for acknowledgement from the Generals, who were so ready to write her off as a nuisance.

* * *

Endymion listened as the sirens echoed through the streets as fire trucks and paramedics were summoned from around the city to the burning buildings. It was futile though, he had left none alive to be saved. The humans had given him some information but nothing different from what had already known. The fire blazed wildly in the distance, tongues of flame reaching up into the sky turning the darkness orange. Embers floated into the air and thick black smoke reached high into the clouds.

Endymion pulled his hand from his long black jacket, the phone he had confiscated from the leader of this cell group had had it on him. He flipped it open and looked into the contacts, there were a few listed but none who he knew.

"Sir?"

He turned, "Send this to Artie and see what he can dig up on those numbers." He handed the phone to Jadeite, who nodded and placed it in his pocket.

"Did they tell you anything?"

Endymion was silent for a few moments, "No nothing more, all of them have the same story, the Queen was taken to their master and then not seen again….they assume her dead."

Jadeite watched his friends back, Endymion's shoulder muscles were tense. "It doesn't mean that she is….."

"I know that!" he snapped "But what it does mean is that she's in grave danger regardless, there are few things that can break a bond between mates, especially a bond like ours. If Serenity lives then she is in the den of a great monster."

Jadeite remained silent, Darien sighed. "What news from Japan?"

"Nothing, Cole's trail has gone cold there's nothing more to track, the Miyagi family has disappeared and Malachite with them."

"Has she contacted our friends in the SDF?"

"Yes but still nothing, they've disappeared from all grids, mortal and non-mortal alike."

Darien didn't respond for several seconds, "And Mina?"

"Dealing….not as well as hoped but dealing, she's thrown herself into her work and her daughter. Nothing much more can be expected."

"What's the update on Nephrite?"

Jadeite hesitated, "The update?" Endymion said his tone commanding.

"The tests still say the same, unsure, they don't know if there will be any recovery or a full recovery, there's still many things that have to be done but as of right now….."

"He's still comatose….why hasn't his healing kicked in?"

"Ami's still working on it Sir but it looks like when the demon attacked him she also injected something into his body it's remnant of the Human virus that was seen at the turn of the century, but genetically altered for us. They've been able to stop it from attacking his immune system but it's still fighting to kill him."

There was silence between the men, "Where is the next target?"

"Pairs is their largest Cell that we've found so far, we have a jet waiting for you at the tarmac."

"Good, and send that to Artie asap."

* * *

The house was like a bee hive, all a flutter with activity and excitement. Astra came upon the large Entrance Hall, everyone who lived in the house seemed to have gathered to watch the action. Those that saw her stepped aside and allowed her past without comment, some bowed others glared. She spotted Kain and made her way to stand behind him.

"What's going on?"

Kain didn't turn around, "The General Isamel is here." He was standing extremely still, arms crossed over his chest, Astra was almost certain if she saw his face there would be a large scowl written into his features. It wasn't the normal cavalier attitude that Kain portrayed, something was definitely different about the men who stood in the middle of the room chatting.

"Isamel? Who's that?"

"He was an old friend of the Rebellion my Lady, supported all of our actions against the Romulen-Valcor King, he's been an advisor to us for the years. He apparently once worked for the Vampires then turned after his eyes were opened to the bloodshed and murder, couldn't stomach the violence and brutality that comes from being in their pocket."

Astra looked past Kain and saw a tall man standing amongst the others. He had dark brown skin, his hair was cropped close to his head in a military style. There was an air around him that commanded respect and told everyone in the room who was the most powerful, as well as who would kill first and explain later. Astra stared at his face, cold grey eyes, and angular features with a large scar across the left eye. The jagged pucker skin extended from the top of his head down across his eye to his cheek. Looking at the scar Astra was surprised that he could see out of it at all.

"Perhaps my Lady you would like a to take tea?"

Astra turned to the speaker, Taiki stood behind her. His posture was also as stiff as Kain's and his face was still as concrete. Astra shook her head, "I am fine, I would like to be included in the meeting."

"My Lady I don't think that Lord Seiya would…."

Astra knew what he would say, that Seiya wouldn't be happy, or wouldn't approve, or wouldn't want her involved in such dirty matters. The statement infuriated her, she felt as if no one appreciated what she had to say or contribute. Slowly she was beginning to become aggravated by Seiya and his approval. He didn't understand her anymore, the woman who he had loved, the woman he had married was gone. She wasn't Aurora anymore, she was someone different and that someone wanted to fight for her instead of sitting idly by and allowing others to do it for her. She bit the inside of her cheek then made up her mind, with no more hesitation Astra pushed through the crowd and walked directly towards the group of men.

Isamel saw her instantly and locked his eyes upon her, for a moment Astra wanted to turn and run to hide from his piercing gaze. Then she felt a sense of courage, _'You never hold your head down, never look down to anyone, you are strong….'_ Someone had spoken those words to her once, and they gave her courage.

"General Isamel," she said with a strong proud voice. The group of men stopped talking and parted for her to face the man she had addressed. "My name is Astra…"

"I know who you are, _Princess,_" he said it with a sneer. "You are Seyia's new woman."

She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes. "I am the Mistress of this house, Seiya is my….._husband_," She said the word '_husband'_ hesitating for a second then continued. "You may know of me, but I wanted to inform you that things have….changed since I awoke from my coma. I wish to be included in the meeting between you and the other Generals."

She saw a nervous shifting rippled through the men standing near the General and a few nervous whispers, only and older Japanese man dressed in a Kimono had no reaction. The rest of the men around Isamel, however, said nothing they only stared at her with indignation and s twinge of anger. "You wish to be included," Isamel repeated as if he didn't completely understand that she had spoken.

"I know there was an attack by the Vampires tonight, if possible I would like to lead one of the retaliation groups."

Whispers exploded around the entire room, fear, surprise, horror, confusion, she heard them all, and she ignored them all. "I want to make my presence known to the Vampire community, I want them to know that we too have strong leaders and people who will not allow their tyranny to rule any longer."

"My lady Lord Seiya would….." Taiki's voice was right behind her.

Astra rounded on her, "I have had enough of what Lord Seiya wants and thinks, my people are being killed. I am dishonoring the memory of my family and the people who depend on us by sitting here and doing nothing. I need to fight as my family did, make the sacrifices that they did, and if that means that I die on the battlefield then at least I will have died doing something other than running or hiding!"

The room had fallen deadly silent until a chuckled from behind Astra broke through the sound. She turned around, Isamel was laughing. "A mighty fine Princess we have here, so you want to be useful girl? You want to lead?" he scratched his chin staring at her. "I'm sure there's somewhere we can put you. We'll find a place for you."

He turned away from her to leave, his group closing ranks. She was silent then a voice whispered in her mind, _'Endymion….'_ She jolted and yelled it out before thinking, "Endymion."

The room fell silent again and every eye turned to her. She glanced around the room, then took a second to compose herself before looking back into Isamel's eyes. "Endymion, I want to lead the attack on him."

It felt as if the entire house inhaled a shocked breath then held it. There was utter silence and fear. The General turned back around, "The Valcorian Romulen King, you want to face him?"

Astra swallowed, "I want to meet the man who killed my family."

Isamel stared into her eyes and she stared directly back into his unwavering, she knew that if she looked away it would be a sign of weakness, "Do you think you have the ability to kill him?"

"If I don't then he will kill me as I try, I make no promises but I wish nothing more than to have the chance."

They were silent for a few more seconds, both of them staring at each other. Finally she saw the corner of his mouth turn upwards, "Let's give you that chance then, but know I won't be responsible if you're captured or killed, you do this of your own choice. Are we clear?"

"Completely."

* * *

Rei couldn't breathe it was too hot, and the smoke was clogging her lungs, covering her eyes. She stood in a room as it burned around her, the fire blazing and intense. She could hear screaming from around her, panicked voices, and shadows of people running around her. She turned trying to make out the room but the fire was intense and it burned her eyes.

'_Rei...'_

She froze, that voice she recognized, she had heard it her entire life. She felt his eyes upon her. 'Rei….'

She didn't want it to be true, she closed her eyes to focus on something, anything despite his voice. She would never admit it out loud but his voice still terrified her, when she had been a child it had frightened her and now even as an adult, and even after his death it scared her.

'_REI look….'_

She shook her head and tightened her fists and her eyes.

'_REI LOOK….'_

She bit her lip, she wouldn't speak to him.

'_Rei look at me!' _She knew he was angry he had always been angry, and so cruel. He had stolen so much of her happiness as a child, he had stolen so much of the life from those around him.

His voice was demonic and angry, _'LOOK AT ME REI!'_

Hands grabbed her upper arms, hard de3manding hands with claws, he shook her trying to get her to look at him. _'Look at me!'_

"_No!" _she screamed it, _"NO YOU DON'T BELONG HERE ANYMORE, YOU DON'T CONTROL US, YOUR NOT ALLOWED IN THIS WORLD!"_

'_Rei…..you are a fool….I can save him…..I can save your brother….you know what to do…..give him my blood…..give him the last of it….make him the man….'_

"_No I told him to harden himself, I didn't tell him to lose himself….your influence would destroy him…I wont allow it…."_

'_Your weakness will destroy him.'_

"_No, he's strong he'll fight, he'll win!"_

'_REI!'_

"_GO AWAY FATHER!" _Suddenly she couldn't feel the fire anymore, there was a cool breeze across her face and the roar of the fire was gone. She opened her eyes and was standing in the woods near a lake. The sun shone down upon at, she jolted and tried to run for the trees where there was shade.

"No need for that my dear."

Rei stopped dead in her tracks, she knew that voice as well. She turned and saw her standing at the water's edge submerged up to her ankles. She wore a soft green dress that ended at her knees, her black hair was tied back in a loose braid.

Rei inhaled a shaky breath, "Mama?"

The woman smiled at her and nodded; forgetting the sun Rei ran and flung herself into her mother's arms. "Mama!"

Her mother wrapped her up and shushed her tears, she stroked her hair and hummed. "My dearest Rei."

"Mama I've missed you so much!" Rei cried.

"I know my darling, I know, I've missed you."

Rei pulled back to look at her mothers kind face. "But….." Rei looked around them and then up at the sunlight, finally understanding crossed her face. "This isn't real."

Her mother smiled, "Depends on your definition of real. Are we here together like this? Yes, is it in the same way that you were with your brother and your husband? No, this is a different place."

Rei began to understand, "this….is this….the shadow land?"

"Not quite my dearest…." She placed both hands on Rei's face. "You have a little more work to do before you go there."

"So am I dead?"

"Dead….is a different word for us isn't it?"

"Mother you're being evasive."

She titled her head back and began to laugh, "Oh yes…..my darling Rei who couldn't ever stifle those opinions."

Rei looked way ashamed, "Your darling Rei who made some terrible mistakes."

Her mother reached out and touched her cheek, "Our mistakes make us…..you were filled with such darkness for so long…..you were so lost….and so was your brother. You think that that darkness is the thing that will save you. But you are all wrong….for what is coming you'll need light….you'll need the greatest light."

"Mama?"

"She means that you'll need love….." another voice interrupted them. A voice that Rei knew well. She turned and gasped, then looked back at her mother.

"We have many things to tell you before we allow you to return."

* * *

"And how is our patient today?" Ami said leaning over Rei. She flipped her eye lids and looked at her pupils, there was no change. She held up her arms and tested her reactive muscles, again nothing was different.

Finally after several minutes Ami fixed Rei. "Well old friend I guess you're still napping." She smiled weakly and then leaned over and kissed Rei's forehead, "Come back soon you're missed." Ami placed her stethoscope around her neck and was at the door when a frantic beeping came from the monitors at Rei's bedside.

Ami spun around to see Rei's body begin to convulse, the monitors screamed at her. "Someone I need some assistance in here!" She ran to Rei's bedside instantly trying to stop and ascertain the problem. Several people ran into the room, questions were asked.

"We need to take her back into surgery!"

"Page Jadeite, and Dr. Torrid!"

"Rei, Rei….Rei!"


	19. Chapter 18

I'm back! I know I know it's been months!But seriously this program is kicking my ass! I'm so terribly sorry...I've also been working out plot and changing things. I know what I want to do and where I want to exactly go now, so this is going to be updated so much quicker now! Be happy and forgive me! Hope you enjoy!

DMA

I do not own sailor moon or it's characters.

* * *

"My Lady this is highly irregular, Lord Seiya would…"

"Not approve," Serena finished his sentences before Taiki could. "Despite what you think I am aware of what Seiya would tell me Taiki. However, despite his disapprovals I cannot sit here and listen to the stories of my people being slaughtered anymore. I've read the accounts, studied the files and despite all the dangers, still I cannot ignore this voice inside of me telling me that I should be on the battlefield." Astra pulled on her black Kevlar jacket, and pulled her hair into a pony tail.

Astra sat back down and began to lace up her knee high boots, and pulled on a pair of black gloves. She glanced up at Taiki with a glared and continued to dress.

"If anything happens to you my Lady…"

"Yes yes I know Seiya will be devastated, he'll never be the same again."

"He never _was_ the same," said Kain. Astra looked up at him, he had been silent the entire time standing in the corner of the room watching her and Taiki's conversation. Kain pushed off the wall and drew near to them, he dropped onto one of the couches across from Astra. "Our dear Prince was never the same after he lost you…the first time, he never really recovered his sanity."

"So you agree! This could push him into another breakdown," yelled Taiki.

Kain shrugged, "He's not exactly standing on sturdy ground anyway. Besides it's not like we can stop her if she wants to go let her go so I say let her make her own decision." Kain looked over at Taiki then looked back at Astra, "But I do agree with her, a leader is someone who leads not just reads books and watches their people die."

"This is more serious than that!" yelled Taiki.

"Stop it she's going to go no matter what you do," yelled Ashlee, they all looked over at her. She stood in the doorway then made her way over to sit next to Kain on the couch. "We know enough of her personality to know that no matter what she's going to go, even if our Lord was standing here now she'd still go."

Astra stood and nodded, "I have no intention of backing down, I've had the training I know the target, I want the chance to avenge my family, and if I can kill Endymion well then half the battle is over. Without their leader they'll lose control."

"You underestimate them." Her voice snaked around all of them chilling their bones, she stepped from the shadows a dark twisted smile on her face. They could tell instantly that it was the darker one, "Your enemy is sophisticated, they're strong, organized, ever since the War they've evolved into a strong form of government, sure you may kill Endymion but the line of succession won't be broken, a new leader will just rise to take his place. A new force of power that will just take up and then you'll have to face what or whomever comes after him, and the truth about it is you never know who is going to step up to take the throne."

"I thought you had taken care of the royals," Astra said.

She moved towards them slowly spinning and twirling as if dancing to music only she could hear. "Oh I did, but they're still strong, still organized. I cut off one leg, but the beast still has several more. Not all of them were eliminated….they were crippled, depressed, demoralized yes, but still alive, and if we know one thing about animals it's that when they're cornered they fight even harder….you should be very careful with your next moves."

"I'll take the chance, if it means taking down Endymion or at least getting the opportunity to do some harm it'll have been worth it to me," said Astra. "The information we were sent, is it accurate?"

The demon smiled, "As accurate as possible the King will be alone when he goes to see the human woman. He won't expect an attack because he wouldn't expect that I knew about him going to a human for help, especially when he has Trista by his side."

"Who exactly is this human?" Ashlee asked.

"A seer that the King believes may be able to help him find your Prince," the demon smiled at Ashlee. "The King will go to see her tonight, and then you will have your opportunity."

Kain glared at her, "And how exactly did you come across this information?"

"Just trust me…. be in place with your team and you'll have one of the most memorable nights you could ever have."

Astra nodded, "We'll be ready."

"My Lady I must protest!" yelled Taiki.

"Then call Seiya tell him our plan, and let him deal. Tell him you couldn't stop me," Astra said. She grabbed her bag slung it over her shoulder and headed for the door.

The demon smiled, "Good luck Princess, your night should prove highly interesting."

"You've put him right in her path," said Ashlee glancing over to the demon.

The little girl said nothing for a moment then turned on them all with black eyes. "I find it interesting that despite all the 'objections' you've all made none of your really tried all that hard to stop her from going." She surveyed all of them, "Could it be because you know that deep down what your Prince has done crossed the line? You know he's fallen so far down that little rabbit hole that he can't see the surface?"

Ashlee stood, "We joined this group to hunt the monsters, to ensure that justice was carried out and that all the evil was purged from this world…..Lord Seiya has lost his way, that woman has driven him down a path that is unacceptable."

"But she is human…."

"For now! Until she gets her first taste of blood, your seals are already beginning to break and her body has already begun to revert. She's a ticking time bomb, and we might as well let her go explode on her own kind, maybe she'll do some damage there."

"Your Prince will be angry," the demon smiled at her.

"So be it, he can't touch us."

"Not true," Kain interjected, "He can do whatever he wants to now."

Ashlee turned, "then we put him down as well. Monsters aren't always born, sometimes they're made, and if our Prince has become one of them then it's our duty to put him down as well."

"He's our Prince," muttered Taiki.

Ashlee glared, "I never swore loyalty to him, my family served Lady Aurora that petulant orphan has no hold over me. I've only followed him this far out of obligation, if he's heading down that path I won't follow him." She turned and let the three of them.

The demon began to chuckle, "Well well aren't you humans just full of surprises."

* * *

"From what we've surmised sir these number and names are all bank accounts of large Black Market dealers, and not just those involved in the human Black Market, but our own as well. Most of these men are double dealing to us and the enemy," Jadeite leaned forward and handed Endymion a large folder.

The Vampire King opened to the first page and began reading. "This one worked with us during the war," he looked down at the picture of a man in the file. "Supplied Valcorians with fitted and special guns, and Romulens with tailored explosives, as well as guns created for werewolves."

Jadeite nodded, "Apparently now he's been working with the humans, he did a little contracting in Chechnya and Palestine. It seems that both weren't as lucrative as he had hoped. From their files it seems that the humans have been dealing with him for about nine months."

Endymion flipped the page and read the second biography, then the third, and then the fourth finally he closed the files and handed them back to Jadeite. "There was a time when we killed mercenaries for dealing to the enemy. We had strict rules about it back then, anyone who sold to the enemy was an enemy we eliminated them swiftly." Endymion glanced at Jadeite, who had not responded. "And what is your plan?"

Jadeite swallowed, "Well we establish contact with them, question them on the whereabouts of their new clients, try to find as many as possible and see if they'll lead us to their leader, and hopefully to the Queen."

"The issue of Serenity is being handled personally by me, I want you to focus on tracing this gun and these mercenaries back to their leader. He's the real target….he's moving a lot quicker than we had anticipated and he's become much more aggressive."

"It's probably in retaliation to our own conduct Sir, we haven't exactly been handing out mercy whilst we've been…."Jadeite searched for a word, "Hunting them."

"I have no interest in showing mercy to fanatics Jadeite, they asked for this battle, they initiated this Rebellion, and now they must feel the full weight of our retaliation. The humans were safe, they were protected and our people were under control, the world wasn't as dark, and now they create this new conflict after two decades of peace. They aren't just killing Vampires in this either, innocents have been harmed, their own kind have been used as sacrificial lambs and bait to lure us out. No, I have no mercy for these insurgents with a sociopathic morality."

The two men sat in silence for a few moments as the plane prepared for landing. "Are you going to see her tonight my Lord?"

"Yes, she called while I was away and said she had new information for me, wouldn't tell me until she saw me in person."

"You really should take a protection unit with you Sir, that city…you never knew what to expect."

"I can handle them Jadeite, I know the area well enough and no one knows I go to see her, I take care to cover my tracks," Endymion looked out of the window at the dark clouds.

"Her visions Sir, are they always accurate?"

Endymion glanced over at his friend, "You're wondering about Rei."

Jadeite remained silent, "She hasn't woken up in months, Ami texted and said there was a spike in her levels, but she didn't regain consciousness."

"You wish to ask Mnemosyne about Rei?"

Jadeite didn't respond, Endymion sighed, "Fine then you can come, however you will remain outside until summoned….Let us pray for good news."

* * *

"She is not well," said Ami looking down at Rei. After her surgery, they had had to fix a hemorrhage in her brain, she had been taken back to the ICU unit and was being carefully watched over. Around her head was a bandage, her eyes were darkened, her face almost drained of all color, her lips were white and dry, she looked as close to death as Ami had ever seen anyone.

"What is causing all of the trouble?" Lita sat by the bedside, her eyes staring into the face of her friend.

Ami hesitated, "We don't know every time we seem to fix something another thing happens, she's had two brain bleeds, several of her internal organs have hemorrhaged, we had to remove parts of her liver and stomach. Medically….she should have been dead ages ago."

"But…." Lita looked up at her with tear in her eyes.

"But something is keeping alive, something that I have to say goes beyond out Vampire physiology."

"What does she need? What does she need to heal?"

"An organ transplant, blood, rest, time…a miracle. There are a number of different things that are needed I can't just it's one thing or the other."

"Save her Ami, do whatever it takes," Lita looked back to Rei, "We can't lose her too."

Ami nodded once then left, she paused at the door and saw Lita take Rei's hand into her own. Ami closed the door behind her. "She comes here every day?"

Ami turned, Yaten sat in the chair next to Rei's door. "She does, she can't do much more than what she has so she comes here to pray, mourn, for comfort."

Yaten paused, "Tell me honestly, will the Princess survive?" Ami shrugged, "Is that your professional opinion?"

"My professional opinion was thrown out the window after she survived the third surgery. There's no telling what is going to happen next." Yaten sighed and ran his hands through his bangs. "What are you here for?"

"I came to see you."

"Why?"

Yaten stood, "I can't come and see my dearest sister?"

Ami stared at him for several seconds, "I have work to be done." She turned and began to walk down the hallway.

Yaten followed after, "It's about the girl. The seer."

"I am not her caretaker, she has Amara for that."

"No, no you aren't but I think you should take a look at her, she's…..she's not well."

"I am not a psychologist I deal with issues of the body not issues of the mind."

"Her body is….well there are something's that should be looked at…."

Ami stopped and turned to her brother, "What are you talking about?"

Yaten sighed, he glanced around then pulled Ami into an empty room. "The Order wants an update on her health, they want to know that she's being taken care of and that she's healthy. They charged me with finding someone I trusted to do it."

"And you choose me?"

"No, Knox wants you, he says you're the best and he doesn't want anyone else touching his…." Yaten stopped before finishing his sentence.

"His…what exactly is his relationship to the girl?"

Yaten ran his hand through his bangs again, "Ames I can't go around telling secrets that aren't mine to tell."

"Then you are going to have to find someone else to do the job." Ami reached around her brother to get to the door.

"His wife….she is his wife."

"What?"

"They were married when they were children, betrothed since birth, when her gift manifested they…they took her away and she was placed in the sanctuary, he was taken to the Demonti to become one of them. They hadn't seen each other in years, but….he always thought of her….wondered about her…."

"Loved her you mean," Ami said.

Yaten nodded, "All the time during training he would talk about her, how she enchanted him, how she was so beautiful, how she was like a fairy. She was all he thought about when we first arrived. But then he talked about her less and less, then he stopped." He turned away from her and went to the window on the other side of the room. "By the time we had graduated to being independent agents on our own he hadn't spoken about her in years. I asked him once and he said she was dead, the girl that he loved had died in the cage that they had taken her to."

"But she's a child, and he's a grown man."

"Whatever they did to her in that sanctuary, it kept her from aging…..Knox too is older than he looks."

"How old are they?"

"From what I can tell Know is somewhere around 150, Hotaru should be around the same."

"Knox isn't a Vampire."

"No he's….he's something else….something I haven't quite figured out yet."

Ami stared at her brothers back then sighed, "I'll check in on her when I'm at the house next. I don't like that I'm working for your order but I'll do it."

He turned around and gave her a large smile, "Only the best."

Ami rolled her eyes then turned to the door, her hand was on the handle when Yaten spoke again, "Ami….how are _you_?"

Ami paused her hand still on the handle, "I am well."

Yaten sighed, he knew that tone, it was the same empty tone that she had answered with for months. "Ami…."

But before he could speak there was a commotion in the hallway, several men ran down the hall back towards Rei's room. "What in god's name?" Ami opened the door and stopped an orderly. "What's happened?"

"My Lady we were coming to look for you. It's the Princess she's awake!"

* * *

Michelle looked up from her book, "Father?"

The old man had stopped speaking suddenly and was now staring morosely out of the window. "The air….it's shifted again."

Michelle looked out of the window, down at the bustling stone city under them. "I felt nothing."

"Because you are not accustomed to this world, you've spent too much time underground," he grumbled. "The air is changing, meaning that something else is changing."

"A butterfly on the other side of the world?"

He turned to her, "Yes…." He turned back to the window, "My dearest….it is time, you have found the information that you need, you know how to break the spell now you must return."

"But I haven't found certainties…"

"Nothing in this world is certain, you know what you must do to end this, you must return now. The girl will need you, the other guardian, the King, and the Queen. They will all need you."

"The Queen?"

"I had a dream last night….you must go back and take what you have learned."

"Is something going to happen with the Queen father?"

"Go back Michelle. Go back to the West."

* * *

Astra stared out of the window of the truck, she hated the woods for some reason. They were dark and deep and held too many mysteries. She rested her head against the back of the seat and sighed, "Patience my Lady."

She glanced into the rear view mirror, Kain sat cleaning his gun casually. Taiki had finally shut up about her leading the attack on the Vampire King after she had said that Kain would go as her personal body guard. Though he had been reluctant to come along after Ashlee had given him a stern look and Astra had made it an order had had complied.

"We've been sitting here for almost two hours, are you sure that the demon gave us the correct information?" She glanced over at the man sitting next to her in the driver's seat, he was watching the surrounding area intently and had not spoken since they had left.

Kain's gun clicked together as he reassembled it behind her, "She gave us the right information my Lady, she wouldn't lie to us, she cannot."

"I doubt very much the validity of that last statement," Astra said.

Kain gave her a small smirk, "You don't like her?"

"I don't. She has too many faces, too many mysteries, too many lies. And she has no loyalty."

"She is bound to Lord Seiya."

"That's not loyalty that is forced compliance. He holds her chain, and has her collared like a dog, but no matter what he will never have her loyalty. Loyalty isn't something that can be forced it has to be earned, given freely from one to another, without freedom of choice there is no true loyalty." Astra looked back to the woods, "People will die loyalty, for honor, for ideals, but it is not something that can be taken or bought. It comes from within a person and from their choices, from their freedoms. Choice made without freedom is no choice, anyone who says different it lying."

There was a long paused between them, "Of all the wastes of ignorance perhaps the most extravagant and costly to human growth has been the waste of the distinctive powers of woman."

"Anna Garlin Spencer said that," Astra looked back at him.

Kain nodded, "Another wise woman."

"My Lord, My Lady," Astra and Kain looked up, the driver was staring off into the distance where a single car had appeared it's headlights bright in the darkness.

"He's arrived."

Astra suddenly felt her heart quicken, "Are you prepared for this My Lady?"

"To kill the man who massacred my family…..there will be no hesitation."

* * *

"Come in King Endymion, Lord Jadeite you as well." Both men had stood at the entrance of the grand living room waiting for her acknowledgement. Mnemosyne sat in a chair that was turned away from them, a young servant girl had shown them inside and then had gone to her Lady and announce their arrival. "Have a seat both of you."

They walked into the room and both took seats opposite of Mnemosyne. She looked at them as they sat down; Jadeite had never seen such blue eyes in his entire life, they were almost glowing. Her skin was pale and flawless, her hair was down around her shoulders yet pulled away from her face. Her long dress was a pale blue and fell around her legs and onto the floor, around her neck was a simple silver locket.

As Jadeite stared at her he couldn't help but feel as if he had seen her face before. She smiled at him softly. "I know what you are thinking, you think I am familiar."

"Your telepathy is good my Lady."

She smiled again, "Not telepathy, you know my face because of genetics. You knew my cousin, or my distant cousin, Sofie. Back somewhere in the line that I descend from Sofie was the sister of my ancestor. Genetics you see are passed down in strange ways. I have been much compared to my great cousin."

Jadeite glanced her over, she looked no more than twenty but he could tell she was older than that. "You are not so distantly related."

She smiled brightly again, "Perceptive, no I am not as young as my body looks but who in our world is. I am human, though blessed from my diluted Vampire blood with the talent for aging slowly. However this body does not stave off death, though they may look upon me and see a woman of only 40 I will be well over a hundred when I die, unless that is my iron debt is called up earlier."

"Iron debt my Lady?"

"Blood my dear general, but you have not come to ask me questions about my age or my lineage, though both come with fascinating stories, you have come for another reason. To test my sight and see if it is as accurate as my cousins was, I make no promises you understand."

Jadeite nodded, "Than ask what you want to know, and I will do my best to answer you honestly."

"My wife, will she wake up?"

Mnemosyne's eyes softened a little, "You do not know yet, your wife is already awakened. As we speak your doctors tend to her." Jadeite stood instantly, "But there is something else you must know. Your time with her is limited."

"Speak clearly I cannot deal with the riddles of seers when it comes to my wife."

"I speak with no riddles, I hated them as a child, your wife is going to die. In the coming months she will heal, but when it is her time she will die. You will lose her."

Jadeite sat down, he clenched his hands on his knees. "When?" he croaked.

Mnemosyne shook her head sadly, "That I cannot say, she has a purpose but I cannot see what it is. My advice take heed of the time you have left with her for it may be shorter than you anticipate. Love her as much as you can and settle all wounds between you."

Jadeite nodded, "Thank you I think you are the only seer who has spoken to me with such honesty and clarity."

Mnemosyne smiled, "My only wish is that I could bring you better news."

"Our feelings are the same, but at least I know now."

Mnemosyne smiled sadly then turned to Endymion, who had silently watched the entire encounter. "You my King, understandably you want answers about your wife as well."

"You said you had information."

"I did, and I must admit I lied…the information I have for you is only the same…"

Endymion stood furious, "then why bring me here!"

She smiled, "Because it is where you needed to be."

Suddenly the servant who had been standing at the doorway fell to the ground blood spraying from her chest. Darien stepped back, "A trap?" Several men began shouting and ran towards the doorways.

Mnemosyne smiled "My King I am loyal to you, it may seem as if I have set you up to die, but I brought you here because it is where you needed to be. I promise you that."

A shower of gunfire shattered the windows around them. Endymion dropped to the ground, Jadeite lunged for Mnemosyne and pulled her him shielding her with his body. Glass shattered around them as bullets ripped apart the comfortable living room.

Though the assault only last a few moments it destroyed almost everything around them. Mnemosyne sat up, "Are you alright my Lady?" asked Jadeite.

She nodded then looked to Endymion, who was standing and staring outside. "Go my King, you must find what you are meant to find."

Without a word he disappeared, "God with him Jadeite. You will need to give chase."

"There is a small assault team out there my Lady! They will kill you!"

"My dear General, do you think I am unprepared for a few fanatical humans?"

He flinched back from her, her eyes had turned white and blue veins were spreading outwards away from her eyes and into her head. She stood and Jadeite felt the power radiating off of her. "Go my General, go with your King and give chase I will dispose of those left."

Jadeite nodded and stood, he glanced at her once more as she walked barefoot across the shattered glass and towards the men outside. He heard gunfire right as he disappeared to follow Endymion.


	20. Chapter 19

Their plan had not been successful, though they had the element of surprise on the Vampire King, the human Seer had known about their strategy. As soon as the human squadron had opened fire the entire house had gone still, nothing moved inside or out, then without warning Vampires had emerged from the woods around them and attacked mercilessly slaughtering everyone they could find.

Without any warning Kain had pushed Astra into the woods and taken her to cover as they watched their men being slaughtered.

"We have to help them!" she yelled trying to pull out of Kain's grasp.

"I agreed to come here to make sure you got out of this alive, throwing yourself into a fray of blood thirsty Vampires isn't going to let me fulfill my objective," he yelled as he pulled her into a retreat, and headed for the one truck that had remained behind.

"They're being killed!"

"I am aware of that!"

"I can't just let my people die!"

He rounded on her and grabbed her shoulders shaking her as he yelled, "They're not your people!"

Astra froze and stared into his eyes, she opened her mouth, but a forceful blast threw them to the ground. They both looked back and saw a bright light coming from where the house stood; Astra could hear the cries of the men, she jumped to her feet and was running back towards the house when she was once again knocked to the ground. Her face hit dirt and her chest felt like she had been hit with an anvil.

"Astra!" Kain's voice was somewhere behind her, she felt dizzy and it hurt her chest to breathe.

"Retreating while your men are being killing, have you no honor?" said a cool voice from above her. "You humans…"

Astra was about to pull her gun on the man when she felt Kain's foot smash down upon her right shoulder pinning her to the ground. "You've got a lot of gall making judgments about us while your men are using our men as snacks," he snapped.

"I have no judgments for you boy, only making an observation, my King and Queen would never have run from the field of battle like that."

"Well you're King is a blood thirsty bastard I could understand his desire to be around violence."

"Watch what you say human, he's no far away."

Astra tensed, the Vampire King was watching them; she looked up trying to discern any movement that would give away his position. She saw none, she tried to look up at the other man who was speaking to Kain, but all she saw in the light was blonde hair.

"I don't give a damn if he's watching I'll say it to his face!" Astra heard a faint clicking sound and realized what Kain was doing. She inhaled a breath preparing herself, the pressure on her shoulder lessened. "You Vampires think you're so smart, so impervious to everything, you think it gives you the right to look down your noses at everyone else. Arrogant bastards." There was a final click and Kain's foot was suddenly off of her shoulder, "Go" he yelled as he threw himself at the blonde.

Astra rolled and pushed herself up onto her feet, she took off running without a moment's hesitation; the small bomb that Kain had armed would explode in ten seconds. She jumped over a fallen log and almost lost her footing. She could hear the two men behind her yelling and fighting. 'Keep going, have to get to the truck,' she thought as she ran full speed.

Five seconds. She tripped over a root and stumbled.

Four seconds. Brambles scratched her face; a short distance away she saw an old bridge in the path.

Three seconds. "Astra!" she heard her name, a woman's voice had called her, but it sounded distant and far away, she paused for a moment.

Two seconds. She ran again trying to gain more speed, there was a break in the middle of the bridge she would have to jump.

One. The blast hit her right as she was midair throwing her to the ground. She landed hard and rolled onto the aged stones. "Damn," she said struggling to her feet. She knew she had a concussion, her head was throbbing. She grabbed the side of the bridge to steady herself, "Didn't think I'd be spending tonight on the ground."

"Get used to it, in the ground is where your final resting place will be," his voice sent shivers through her body. She knew she had never heard it before, but something somewhere deep inside she thought it was familiar. She slowly reached for the weapon at her side.

"Don't do anything unnecessarily stupid girl."

Her hand paused, "Seeing as how you are going to kill me anyway it seems like I should take the only chance I have to try to kill you," she said without turning around.

"You're brave…I'll give you that. Surrender and I will give you a quick death after you are questioned."

"Is that what you gave my family? A quick death?"

"I don't grasp your meaning," he said.

"You killed them, murdered them because they stood up to you!" She paused, "Have you killed so many that you've forgotten them?"

"Yes."

She inhaled a shaky breath, "Monster."

"To you, yes. To others, no, it all depends on which side you're on."

"I fight for the side of humanity!" she grabbed her weapon and spun around quickly pointing at him. But he was standing in front of her, he grabbed the muzzle of the gun with his hand, and raised his fist before she could even pull the trigger.

Blue met blue, and both of them froze. It wasn't fear that made her blood run cold, Astra knew fear, this was something else…..recognition. She knew his eyes, they had been in her dreams, they had called to her, and they had watched her. But they had held no danger for her, no malice, no anger, no hate, for her they held only recognition and love.

The Vampire King stumbled back his mouth opened, eyes wide as he stared at her. She tried to make herself lift her gun, but his eyes held her gaze. "Ser…Serena," he whispered.

The name echoed through her mind and then suddenly her head exploded into pain, she grabbed her head and fell to her knees. "What's happening…." Images flashed before her closed eyes, her brain felt like it was on fire. "What did you…"

She looked up at him, and though her eyes were blurred she raised her weapon and fired twice. The gunshots were the last things she heard before she dropped her gun, before the world went black the demons words echoed in her mind. 'Forgotten souls finally be found.'

* * *

Jadeite rubbed the back of his head, there was a knot forming. The explosion had knocked him into a large tree a few feet away from where he had fought with the human, looking up he saw no sign of his opponent. Jadeite pulled himself up to stand, his legs wobbled slightly, and the world tipped a little as he found his balance. He surveyed the area, the small crater was about three feet away from where he had been fighting with the human, had it been any closer, and had he been facing it he would have been injured much worse.

"Jadeite!" he turned to see Endymion walking towards him carrying the blonde woman in his arms, he noticed that the King's knuckles were bloody.

"My Lord," he said his voice scratchy.

"Are you all right?"

Jadeite nodded, "A little banged up, but alright for the most part."

"Good the man who was with her is near the bridge, he attacked me but I was able to subdue him. Restrain him and bring him to the car we're taking him in for questioning."

Jadeite nodded at the woman in his arms, "What about her?"

"We need to take her the Trista and Hotaru immediately," Darien said gazing down at the woman in his arms.

"My Lord?"

Endymion shifted the woman, her hair fell away from her face, and Jadeite's mouth dropped, "Serenity! The brought her here but….she was fighting with them!"

"I'm not sure what they have done to her but….." he paused and stared down at his wife. "I need to take her to them as soon as possible. Retrieve the other one." He brushed past Jadeite as he walked back towards the house. Jadeite watched him go then headed in the direction he had come from.

He saw the human lying on his back arms spread out, his face completely bloody and almost unrecognizable. Jadeite could hear the man was taking shallow breaths and was alive, but just barely. Endymion's fury had been unleashed upon the man, Jadeite thanked providence that he had left the human alive, though how he had he didn't know. If he ever got his hands on the girl who had almost killed Rei he didn't think that she would have escaped with her life.

He picked the man up, ignoring the groans of protest, and began dragging him back to towards the house.

* * *

"She's been awake for a few hours now," Ami said. "She's responsive and she's been able to digest food, though so far only soft foods, but it's better than a few days ago when we thought she was going to be dead in a few hours."

Cole and Ami stood at the door of Rei's bedroom watching the group gathered around Rei's hospital bed. Rei was sitting up in her bed a weak smile on her face, Lita sat on the bed facing her, Nephrite had taken a chair next to the bed, Yaten leaned against the wall quietly, and three other friends of Rei's all stood around her with large smiles of relief on their faces.

"What is your diagnosis?" Cole asked.

Ami shot him a look, "Nothing I have no explanation for this. Her levels had been steady since the last operation, nothing suggesting that she would wake up, it was….." she hesitated.

"Ami?"

"It's like someone flipped the on switch in her and turned her back on."

"Her other injuries?"

"She's rapidly healing, faster than anything we've ever seen before, even for a Vampire. I don't know what to make of it."

Cole looked back at the young Princess sitting in bed, she still looked weak and tired, but even he could tell that she looked better than she had a few days ago. "Keep me informed on her progress, call me if your results reveal anything."

Ami nodded, "Have you heard anything from Darien?" she asked before he could turn and leave.

Cole stopped, "No, nothing but I'm sure someone will have told him. I'd expect a call from him soon." He turned and left her alone.

Ami looked back at Rei, she caught the other woman's eye for a moment and they shared a smiled. Ami had no explanation for Rei's recovery, but she was glad that the her friend was better. Ami leaned against the wall just as a warm hand slid onto her hip.

"Well done love," Zoicite whispered into her ear.

"Wasn't me, this was Rei's doing."

"I'm sure your surgical skills helped make things easier for her."

Ami turned to face him, "I don't know. This is all…..just very unprecedented."

"Everything in our lives is unprecedented," he said. "Yaten came to see me a few days ago, asking about how you're holding up."

Ami sighed, "He won't let it go." She broke away from her husband's grasp and headed down the hallway towards her private office. She opened the door and went to her desk; Zoicite followed and closed the door behind him before sitting down on the couch against the wall.

"He's concerned about you Ami, you've barely taken a break in the last few months," he said.

"I've been trying to save lives," she shuffled through the papers on her desk not looking at him.

"Ami," he was beside her in half a second, he turned her chair away from her desk and kneeled before her. "You have never talked about losing the baby."

"Zoicite…"

"I'm a doctor Ami I know how these things can affect someone psychologically, and just for your information your brother isn't the only one who is concerned."

"Zoicite," she took his face in her hands, "I've dealt with it my love, I've said goodbye to our son, I miss him and it pains me to know that I'll never…" she felt tears forming in her eyes. "That I'll never hold him in my arms, but I cannot dishonor his existence by falling to pieces and becoming worthless. Everything I do I do to help catch that creature who stole him away from us. I can't stop and slow down when I'm so very close. We've closed in on them Zoicite, their numbers are dwindling…"

"And they're becoming more aggressive," he cut her off. "Ami I just worry about the toll you're taking upon yourself."

"Zoicite this….this is how I deal, this is my therapy my love," she leaned forward and kissed him. "I am fine, you don't have to concern…."

The door to Ami's office was thrown open by Cole's personal assistant. "My Lord, my Lady please forgive the intrusion, but General Cole has just received news. He needs all members of the small council to convene at Southern Mansion as soon as possible."

Ami stared at the man, "The General is aware that the Princess cannot be moved, correct?"

"He is my Lady, however, he requests that you leave her with trusted peers and report to headquarters with the two Demonti agents."

Ami and Zoicite shared a worried glance, "What do you think it is?"

Zoicite shrugged, "Never know with our family."

* * *

Crack! The sound of Seiya's hand hitting her cheek echoed around the room, and Ashlee was thrown to the floor from the force. She felt her lip split and she could taste blood, she pushed herself up onto her hands, but didn't look up at Seiya.

"Explain to me again why you thought it would be a good idea to allow my fiancée to ride along with an ambush team heading towards the Valcorian King," he glared down at the red head.

"She was determined my Lord, she wouldn't listen…."

"I don't give a fuck about that! She could be dead for all we know, we haven't heard back from the team in the past hour, and from the surveillance it looks as if they barely did any damage to the Seer's house! Moreover you have put Astra in serious danger with your carelessness."

The entire room was silent; Taiki stood a few feet away from Ashlee, his eyes nervously flicking between his fiancée and the young master. He looked up and saw the demon child looking out of the far window, staring up at the moon. A few other soldiers were standing timidly around them. All of their eyes were trying to not look at the bloody motionless bodies of the two beaten men lying on the floor behind Seiya.

"You have put the woman I planned on spending my life with in direct danger, danger from that Vampire bastard who ruined her in the first place," Seiya stormed over to Ashlee and grabbed her by the hair. "I should rip your head from your shoulders! You can't even follow the simple orders to keep her safe, you're worthless." He pushed her away from him and walked in a large circle. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

"No matter, it's all fine, as long as the spell is in place we still have time."

"Don't put all of your little eggs in that basket," said the Demon from her window. "You forget that she is now in the presence of those she knew and loved before, she also has Hotaru and Trista near her. My spell is strong, but it's not impervious." She turned to look at Seiya, "The Vampire King has unlimited resources, if his own people cannot break the curse he will find someone who can."

"Then we will have to retrieve Astra before he is able to." He turned to Ashlee and Taiki, "I won't even try to convince myself that the two of your will be capable of doing this, I'll organize it myself." He looked around the room and down at the two bleeding men, "Pick them up and report to your stations." He turned and left the room; the remaining men helped up their two friends, none of them talked above a whisper, and all of them made sure to avert their eyes away from Ashlee's crumpled form.

The Demon was the last to leave, she sauntered over to the double doors turned to face them and closed the door, her dark smile never wavering.

As soon as they were alone Taiki bent down and pulled Ashlee to a couch against the far wall. "Let me see," he said moving her hand from the side of her face.

"You're not a doctor," she said.

"Then you assess it, is anything broken?"

She hesitated for a moment, "I think he fractured my cheek."

Taiki frowned deeper, "I'll get someone to take care of it." He stood, but her hand on his wrist stopped him.

"Please just wait a moment," she said looking up at him with unshed tears in her eyes. He sat back down next to her, after a moment she spoke. "I thought he was going to kill me after what he did to those men."

"I have to admit I did too for a moment," he said.

"What if….what if they do break the curse?"

Taiki waited, "I'll prepare passage for us to a safe zone, it's not going to be safe for us here when Seiya realizes he won't be able to get the Vampire Queen back."

"You think he will fail?"

"He'll never get close, she's about to become the most protected woman in the world, there will be no chance of him stealing her back. No chance at all."

* * *

The tension in the air was weighing down upon everyone, Endymion had ordered all of them to wait in the Library until he arrived. Ami and Zoicite sat together both glancing around the room every now and then; Cole sat at a large desk glancing around the room and then to his phone that lay silent before him; Yaten was playing with his own phone whilst leaning up against a bookshelf, he would glance up every now and then and then return to whatever game he was playing; Trista stood at the window staring into the darkness; Amara sat rigid on the couch with Hotaru, who was staring blankly at the carpet; Knox sat in a chair watching Hotaru; Lita pretended to star at the books on the shelves; Nephrite simply stared into space occupied by his thoughts. No one had spoken since they had arrived.

Finally the door opened, everyone looked as Endymion and Jadeite walked inside. Endymion went to the desk where Cole was sitting took the large decanter of brandy and poured himself a drink. "Appraise them of the situation Jadeite," he said before downing the glass and pouring another.

"Yes Sir," Jadeite turned to the ground, "A few hours ago myself and Endymion went to visit the human Seer living several miles East of the city. While there we were attacked by a human group."

"Was the Seer involved?" asked Zoicite.

Jadeite shook his head, "No, she was also a target, but she was able to defend herself and we were able to capture two of the group's leaders." Jadeite leaned down and pressed a button on the coffee table that stood in front of Amara and Hotaru. The lights around them dimmed and a holographic image rose from the table. "This man was captured during the attack," the image as a complete replica of Kain's head and shoulders.

"We have taken him into custody and our doctors are addressing his injuries."

"Injuries?" Nephrite looked over to Jadeite.

"He tried to blow us up whilst I engaged him, it failed and he attempted to attack the King, he failed in that as well," Jadeite glanced over to Endymion then back to the group. "He had serious facial fractures, his left arm was broken, and he had some internal bleeding. He's stable now and is sedated, when he is strong enough our plan it to question him."

"We've used our facial recognition software and have been able to collect a small biography, but most of the information about his was destroyed. We ran his fingerprints but we can't find anything."

"You won't find anything," everyone looked up at Knox. "He's a Demonti, a fallen Demonti, but a Demonti none the less."

Jadeite looked at Endymion, "How do you know?"

Ami let out a small laughed, "Everyone knows about Kain Damnian." Knox and Yaten exchanged glances before Ami continued. "He was a very powerful Demonti about three hundred years ago, he was a rising star in the ranks, there was talk of him becoming the youngest leader of the Demonti once his mentor stepped down."

"What happened," asked Lita.

Ami looked at Yaten then Knox. "Kain was…it was discovered that he was using Vampires and humans in experiments that violated several moral and humanitarian laws. He was tried and then sentenced to death, however he escaped and went into exile, he has been on the Demonti's most wanted list since his escape."

Cole leaned back in the chair, "What kind of experiments was he conducting."

"Transmogrification, he was experimenting with spells that would turn a human into something else," Ami said.

Zoicite turned to his wife, "How do you know all of this, you don't have access to the Demonti files."

Ami looked at Yaten then back to her husband, "Several decades ago I had an…encounter with Kain Damnian. It was right before the end of the War."

"And you didn't turn him in!" snapped Yaten.

"At the time, _brother_, I was in need of his services."

Yaten's eyes narrowed, "For what?" Ami stared at her brother, but gave no answer.

Finally Knox broke the silence, "He also used Wares, Fae, Wiccans, and Vampires in his experiments. He was convinced that he would eventually be able to turn a normal non-infected human into a Ware or a Vampire."

"But his ultimate goal was to crossbred the species," interjected Yaten. "He wanted a Vampire with the properties of a human. Being able to walk in the light, erase the dependence on blood as sustenance, and the reactions to silver. He was trying to create hybrids."

Zoicite turned to his wife, "Was he successful?"

Hotaru let out a small laugh, "Success is always subjective to a scientist, especially one who has no moral compass."

Yaten pushed away from the bookshelf, "In retrospect some of his creatures were….able to survive without mechanical help, however they were so disfigured and the psychosis….well let's just saw their fate could have been worse."

Lita glanced between Yaten and Knox, finally she understood their meaning, "You exterminated them."

Knox looked up at her, "There was no other option, allowing the creatures to live would have been worse ."

"We euthanized them in the most peaceful way we could," Yaten explained. "There were other options, but despite what you think the Demonti are not sadistic."

"Depends on who you are talking to," said Hotaru. The group looked at her, "The Demonti believe that they are gods, that they have the final say on matters that most often don't concern them. But I do give you credit this time, cleaning up your own messes. However I wonder how much of Kain's research they kept."

Yaten glared at her, "The information was classified, only the highest members have clearance…"

"It should have been destroyed, you saw them Yaten, they were monsters, tortured souls who were abused and then used. It should have ended there, but because it didn't now Serenity pays the price."

Lita sat up, "What do you mean?"

Hotaru glanced at Jadeite, "Tell them, put all the pieces into place."

Jadeite glanced at Endymion, who had been silent the entire time. "We've found The Queen."

* * *

Finally Rei was alone, there had been tons of visitors non-stop for the past several hours, she felt like she hadn't had a moments piece since she had woken up. After the last person she had asked the guard at the door to belay anyone else who wanted to see her until tomorrow, she was tired and needed to rest. She collapsed into the pillows behind her and dimmed the lights.

"Despite having been asleep you're tired? Ironic," said a voice.

Rei's eyes snapped open and saw the little girl seated across the room from her, her legs dangled from the chair, her hair was pulled back, and now she wore a dark green dress.

Rei swallowed, "Which one are you?"

The girl smiled, "If I was the other one do you think you'd still be alive?"

"Sofie," it came out with a rush of relief.

"I've come to tell when it will happen."

Rei nodded, "She won't be able to stop it will she?"

Sofie shook her head, "I expect that she'll be glad to be rid of me."

Rei gave her a weak smile, "Do you cause her that much misery?"

"It's what I do best."

They shared a smile then sat in silence. "Will there be time for goodbyes?"

Sofie looked away, "I can't be certain when it's time it's time there's no changing that."

Rei nodded, "Are you ready?" Sofie asked her.

"Are you?"

"I guess it doesn't really matter for either of us."

"It will help them?" Rei asked.

"Yes, it will."

"Then we have to be ready."

* * *

The doors slid open before the group, the lights in the room were dimmed, save the one bright light that was shining directly on the medical table beneath it, there were several doctors and nurses in the large room, vital signs and stats were shown on the large monitors on the walls. Serenity lay unconscious in the middle of the table, her combat outfit had been removed and she had been dressed in a simple blue tank top and black shorts. She was clean and the cut on her forehead had been attended to.

"She was with the group that attacked you?" asked Amara. Cole stood next to her; Zoicite and Yaten stood staring up a large monitor and muttering to each other.

"Yes, from the markings on the suit she was wearing she was their commander," Jadeite explained. "Kain also had the same type."

"He was probably her second in command," said Nephrite.

Lita looked down at Serena, tears forming in her eyes, "Why is she unconscious?"

"We aren't sure."

"The CT scans show swelling in her brain, and unusual activity in the cerebral cortex," Ami said from the far side of the room. She was staring at the brain scans that were up on the walls; "There are neurons firing rapidly without any reason."

"Her brain is fighting itself," Trista said. The group looked behind them at the doorway to where Trista and Endymion stood.

"Why would her brain be fighting itself?" asked Cole.

Trista glanced at him then looked back towards Serena, she took a few steps closer. Nephrite and Jadeite moved aside; she reached out and put her hand on Serena's forehead. "This is a powerful spell, the demon erased her memories and implanted false ones. She also put a protective spell around her true memories, they cause her Majesty pain whenever she tries to access them."

Ami came back to the table, "Jadeite is this how you found her?" Jadeite nodded, "Has Kain woken up yet?"

"The doctors say that his injuries are too significant for right now, waking him up could allow him to cause himself more damage."

"Damn," Ami smacked her hands down on the medical bed and bowed her head.

"Ami, what's wrong?" asked Lita.

Ami however didn't look up, she continued to stare down at the floor.

"He turned her human," all of them save Ami and Trista looked over to Endymion. "Kain and whomever took her turned her human."

Lita looked down, "then the question is how do we turn her back?"

"We must help her true nature to fight off the human presence," said Trista. "We must help her remember who she is, and what she is. She's going to wake up and have both sets of memories, she will be very confused."

"How do we help?" Zoicite asked coming nearer to the group.

"By reminding her of who she was," Trista said as she straightened up and turned to look at Endymion. "She will need her husband."

Endymion glared at her, "I buried Darien because I thought she was dead, now you ask me to soften my heart again in the _hope_ that she may come back to me!"

"Hope, it's a powerful thing." Hotaru stood behind Endymion, she moved into the room and looked at all of their faces. "You built this world on hope, the hope that Romulens and Valcors could live together in peace, look at you all now. She had hope that you would save her, she hoped that the sacrifices made during the War would create a better world. She hoped that you would create a better world with her King Endymion."

Hotaru turned back to him, "Hope created your daughter, your love, your existence, don't give up yet."

"The odds are stacked against us, there is no certainty that trying to turn her back won't kill her, and I don't even know where to begin!" he snapped.

Hotaru smiled, "You will not be alone my Lord." Hotaru looked sideways, but not at anything directly. "Soon, help will come soon."


	21. Chapter 20

I do not own sailor moon or it's characters.

OMG it's been so long, mostly because I've had a little writers block. I mean I know where I'm going but getting there has been a little tricky. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner. Thanks for all the love and support.

DMA

* * *

"Do you remember this one …nity?"

She looked up from staring at her shoes, the large picture in front of her was of a man, he was tall and thin, had bright blue eyes and looked like a King. "That's my Grandfather Linus," she said.

"Yes and this one?" asked the blonde woman pointing to another portrait two down from Linus'.

"That's my Great Grandmother Joanna, she helped to kill Ageon the Valcorian Lion."

"Well done, you have been studying. Come now we must go and meet your brother." They walked down the long hallway towards the steps, large portraits of her family were hanging on the walls.

"Ast….," she ran and caught up with the older blonde woman trying not to trip on her dress in the process. "Why do I need to know about all these people who are dead? How will they help me, they're all dead."

"What have I always told you about the dead my girl?"

"That they never really leave us."

"Yes exactly."

"My mother left, she left and never came back," she looked up at the last portrait of a woman. She was beautiful, her long silvery blonde hair cascading around her while she sat peacefully, a book on her lap, a rose held in her hand. She had no smile, but her face wasn't harsh, it was peaceful and kind.

"No ….nity, she didn't leave she was taken from you," the woman said. "Your mother would have never left you."

She felt tears prick her eyes, she grabbed the other woman's arm and hugged. "You wont leave me will you?"

The other woman placed a pale hand on her own, it was cold despite the warmth that she radiated. "Everyone eventually has to go Sere….ty, but it's not the goodbye's that matter. It's the memories we have before the goodbye."

She turned to look her in the face, "You will never be alone Sere….ty. If that's what you're worried about, you will never be alone."

"But we are alone," she turned. Seiya stood down the hallway in the shadows, "They took everything from us Astra, our families, our love. They took it all and now we're alone." He stepped out from the shadows, his face was hallow his eyes wild; his clothes were wrinkled and messy; his hair was unruly and sticking up in places.

"Seiya," she muttered. Suddenly she wasn't child anymore, she was grown.

"You're alone Astra, unless you have me with you," he reached out to her. "We need each other, we won't be alone anymore."

She took a step towards him and was about to touch his fingers when another hand pulled her back and into strong arms. He pulled her against his chest, "Block it out, he's trying to lure you away again."

She inhaled his scent, he was familiar like something she had known a long time ago when she was very young. "Who are you?"

His arms tightened around her, "You have….you have to remember on your own."

"Let her go, she's mine!" Seiya screamed, he couldn't come and nearer. "She's mine! You have no right! Let her got!"

She grabbed her ears, his voices was shrieking, piercing her ears. The other man put his hands over her hands helping to block Seiya's screams out. "Don't listen to him."

"ASTRA!"

* * *

Astra sat up with a jolt gasping for breath, she clutched at her chest her heart ached as if someone had been grabbing it and squeezing. Her head was throbbing and she felt nauseous. She laid back down and closed her eyes as she waited for the room to stop spinning. When she finally felt better she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings.

She was in a large for poster bed with a white bedspread and was surrounded by several large pillows; the walls were high with wood paneling on them; there were large glass doors on the east side of the bedroom; thick green curtains hanging down; the floors were wood, the same color as the paneling; there were several leather chairs in the corner each with several books on piled on them; she could see a bathroom in the corner with a large bathtub just within the door.

"You've finally woken up."

Astra jumped at the voice and looked at the door. She hadn't heard the woman enter nor any door open, but there she was standing before her with a smile on her face. "Who are you?"

She frowned slightly, but it was quickly replaced. "I'm your doctor."

"Doctor? Why do I need a doctor?"

"You've suffered from an extreme trauma. You took a good knock to the head," she came closer to the bed but her steps were very cautious. "Can you tell me what you remember?"

Astra put her hand to her head. Flashes of the woods and running, and someone with black hair ran through her mind. "I was in the woods, running…from…to someone? I don't remember."

Ami smiled gently at her, "Don't push it, you'll have it come back to you."

"You always were the encouraging one," she muttered. Astra's head snapped up, she stared at the woman, "How did I know that?"

Ami took a step back from her, "Don't try to push yourself."

Astra stared at her she knew the woman, she knew she was a doctor, she knew she was married, she knew she was…..a vampire. Astra rolled out of bed and landed on her feet across the bed from Ami. Grabbing a book and holding it up to use in defense. "You're a Vampire," she said, "How do I know that?"

Ami put her hands up trying to calm her down, "I need you to calm down, no one is going to hurt you."

"Vampires lie all the time….." she paused. "But they also tell the truth." She looked up at Ami, she recognized her, she knew the dark hair, she knew about her mother, about her husband, about her being a double agent during the War. "A….Ami?"

Ami nodded at her and smiled, "Yes….yes Serena it's me."

She looked away from her trying to sort through the memories. The name, however, made her look back up. "Sere…..Serena." The name felt familiar on her tongue, "Why do I know that….that name."

"Take it slow….don't push yourself," Ami took a few tentative steps around the bed. "Try to remember something."

Astra lowered the book, but didn't let it go. "Serena…."

"Yes."

"Serenity…..Serenity….my…..my mother?" she looked up at Ami confused.

Ami reached out to take the book from her, "May I?"

Astra looked down at the book in her hand, she knew a book would do nothing against a Vampire. She let it go and Ami took it from her. "Please would you like to talk?" Ami gestured to two of the leather chairs in the room.

Astra took a seat in the chair and looked at the dark haired women. "What's wrong with me. Part of me feels like I should be running, but the other feels like it's okay, like I'm safe."

"You are safe," Ami said sitting down. "You won't be hurt here."

"I know you."

Ami nodded, "Yes, yes you do."

"How?"

"You and I have been friends for the past two decades," she said gently.

"What?"

"We've been friends….you're name do you remember it?"

"Astra…..no…..that's wrong….I'm….I'm someone else….." she clutched her head. "I'm so confused." Memories played through her mind, different names running through her brain. "I don't know my name…"

"I can tell you, if you'd like."

She looked up, "I would."

* * *

"My Lady, would you like something to drink?"

Michelle put down her book and looked up at the stewardess, "No, thank you. But will you tell me how much longer until we land?"

"Anxious to get back?"

Michelle looked over at the man who was sitting at the head of the plane. "I would have thought that you were enjoying your time out of your little cage."

"Your snide comments are unappreciated Nikolay," Michelle said going back to her book.

He sneered at her his blue eyes twinkling, he flipped his long blonde hair over his shoulder. He pulled out a knife and began cleaning his finger nails. "Well my dear I have a long time to make up for, you've been underground for so long."

"Father sent you here to escort me, not to fight," Michelle turned a page.

"Oh little cousin I have missed you so much. Do tell me how was it living underground with nothing to do, but stare at your other two little friends and watch over that brat."

She paused about to turn the page, "It was….lonely."

Nikolay watched her for a moment, "Did you miss him? Your precious Sethaniel while you lived in your cage? Was it worth it? Leaving him for your 'greater cause', was it worth it?"

Michelle glanced up and locked eyes with him, "I'm still trying to figure that out."

Nikolay smiled at her evil and leaned back in his chair, "Yes I'm sure you are."

* * *

Darien leaned against the bedroom door listening to the conversation going on between the two women. His arm rested on his left leg, in his right hand he held a bottle of whiskey. He lifted it and took a deep swig.

"Yes because the way you want to meet your wife again is drunk as hell." Darien looked up to see Rei standing in front of him.

"Rei, I didn't think they would let you out of the hospital yet." Rei smiled guiltily, "Let me guess they didn't."

"Look there's only so much fawning I can take and from what it seems like I haven't been moved from that bed in months," I needed to stretch my legs. She leaned against the wall and slid down across from him. "You dismissed all unnecessary personal I see." The mansion had been almost deserted when the cab had dropped her off at the front gate.

"I don't want her to be overwhelmed when she finally ventures out," he said before taking another drink.

"So she's lost her memories completely?"

Darien shook her head, "No, they're in there somewhere, guess they're all jumbled with her fake ones."

"And the witchy witch thinks she can fix it all?"

"Trista or Hotaru?"

"Either or."

"They think they can but they say they'll need time."

"Well that sucks."

"If you know of any other way to speed up the process, please we'd love to hear it."

"Sorry brother, not my area of expertise." They sat in silence for several minutes listening to Ami explain to Serena that she was the daughter of two powerful families. "Darien….I'm sorry, for all this."

Darien looked up at Rei, "It's not like you did it Rei."

"No but if I had been here you wouldn't have….you wouldn't be like this."

"What do you mean?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Lita told me that Trista convinced you to turn off your feelings. Brought out the old Endymion from back during the War. Took a liking to some violence and bloodshed while I was under."

"I needed to become the man they feared again."

"Yes, but what was the cost? What's left of the man that you became, who is Serena even going to come back to?"

Darien didn't respond, he took another sip from his bottle. "I made them afraid of the dark again."

"But did it help you get Serena back any quicker? Did it do anything other than allow you to take out your rage upon those humans."

"Those human….deserved everything I gave them."

"Jadeite told me what you did to the group in Munich," she said. Darien glanced up at her, then back to the bottle in his hand. "You massacred them, and hung their bodies from the roof, in public Darien out there for everyone to see."

"Like I said I gave them a reason to fear us again," he said.

"But what of all the progress we've made in the last twenty years, this is going to…."

Darien threw the bottle at her, it smashed right next to her head. "I do not need you to lecture me on anything Rei, you don't know what it was like!"

"I don't know what it was like to lose the most important things that we are ever given, you forget I had a child once brother, I had a husband before too and I lost them. I know better than anyone else what that loss is like."

"And yet here you are giving me a lecture when you yourself went crazy after their loss. Little hypocritical isn't Rei?" he sneered at her.

"I need to face this brother, to face what has been done and what you've done."

"Why, what does it matter?"

"Because if you don't then you'll never have any hope of getting Serena back."

"What do you know about it," he snapped at her.

Rei climbed across the hallway and took her brothers face into her hands, "I am not going to be here for this Darien. You have to get her back, and that means facing what you've done, that means letting it go, turning your feelings back on no matter how much it hurts."

Darien looked at her confused, "What do you mean you won't be here?"

Rei gave him a sad smile, "No matter what happens Endy, don't stop fighting." She leaned forward and kissed his forehead, then she leaned back and smiled at him tears in her eyes.

"Rei?"

She smiled at him again then pressed a pressure point in his neck until his eyes closed and his body feel limp. "Forgive me brother, I will miss you."

She leaned him against the polished wood and stood. She touched her hand to the door, "Goodbye my friends." She stepped over her brother and walked down the hallway.

* * *

Lita paced her bedroom wringing her hands together, she checked her watch for the ninth time in twenty minutes. "What's going on."

"Ami is easing her back into her memories my love," Nephrite said standing and placing himself in front of her. "It's going to take some time."

"Time…..I just….everything is going to hell," she said wrapping her arms around him.

"I know my love, I know. But we got them back, we have Rei and Serena back, it'll all be alright."

"Don't be too sure about it." The couple parted, Hotaru stood at the doorway to their room. Her eyes were wet with tears.

Lita stepped forward, "What did you see?"

Hotaru shook her head her frown deepening. "Death," Hotaru said. "Death walks through this house tonight."

Lita and Nephrite looked at each other.

* * *

"Your saying that this is my home?"

Ami nodded, "I know it's confusing and that it's kind of weird but yes, this house belongs to you and your…."

Astra looked at her, "My what?"

Ami paused and thought for a moment, "Your husband."

Astra's eyes widened, "Seiya?"

Ami looked at her confused, "Seiya? No my Lady your husband is King Endymion."

"Endymion, the Vampire King! He's not my husband! He killed my family, burned them alive in our house. I barely escaped with my life, there is no way that I would marry him no matter what the circumstances."

"You are confusing reality with what is truth." The both turned, Trista stood next to them, neither having heard her enter.

"You look different," Astra said without thinking. She didn't know how but for some reason she knew that the woman before her had drastically changed her appearance. Gone was the usual long flowing dress, replaced by a knee length skirt, blouse, and heels. Her hair was tied back instead of freely hanging around her shoulders revealing much more of her face and making her look younger.

"I've embraced the modern age," she said. "But you took look different my Lady. More….human."

"How can I look more human then I already am," Astra asked confused her eyes dancing between Ami and Trista.

Trista smiled at her, "Would you allow me to do something my Lady? To perhaps clear up some of those confusing memories?" Astra looked at her suspiciously, but nodded. "Just relax," Trista stood behind Astra's chair and put her hands on either side of the blonde's head. "Close your eyes my Lady and just let the thoughts flow."

Astra closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she allowed her thoughts to flow freely. She thought of Seiya, and the others at the mansion, all her people who were probably waiting and worrying about her. Then her thoughts were of another group of people, another family who worried for her. Her husband, her sister-in-law, her friends, her cousins, people whose faces she saw in her mind's eye. Familiar faces, but their names escaped her.

Suddenly Seyia's face appeared in her mind, but it was younger. He was covered in dirt and blood, wearing a bloodied torn shirt and pants. Tears ran freely down his face, he looked around ten. He walked through a dark wood as men and women fought viciously around him. She could smell the blood in the air, hear the screams of pain, the cries of battle, the clash of metal on metal, the smoke and powder from the guns, she saw bloodied bodies and severed arms littering the battle field. Those fighting ignored him as the boy walked towards his eyes dead and empty. She turned away for a moment then looked back, he was running at her with a silver knife eyes full of hate and fury, he jumped at her screaming like a wild animal.

He was caught in midair by a tall black haired man. "Find somewhere else to be or you won't escape with your life boy," the man said to him then took the knife from him and threw him to the ground then turned to her.

"Darien."

"Sere….ty are you all right?"

She nodded, "I'm fine."

She turned around for a moment and saw the boy on the ground glaring at Darien's back as they left him behind.

Suddenly she opened her eyes and pitched forward away from Trista and emptying the contents of her stomach onto the floor. "What the hell was that?" She turned to the woman behind who was looking down at her with emotionless eyes.

"That my dear Queen was the beginning."

"Queen?"

Ami stood, "Trista leave you're only going to confuse her."

Trista glared then bowed to the two women before leaving through the glass doors leading to the balcony.

"Who is that woman?"

Ami glared at the doors that Trista has just disappeared through. "A seer, a powerful one, but an emotional one."

"She seemed in control of her emotions when she was here."

"A façade, she's more volatile than anyone else in this mansion, including you at the moment." Ami let out a breath and sat down, "Now what did you see?"

* * *

Rei leaned against the door frame staring at her husband; he was reading a thick stack of papers and taking notes. His mind was completely occupied, she had been standing there for almost five minutes and he had yet to notices her.

"I don't know if I should be insulted, or complimented on my stealth ability," she said finally.

Jadeite looked up, "Rei!" He stood and was in front of her wrapping her in his arms in a half of a second. "I was meaning to come see you."

She kissed his neck, "It's alright my love I know you were doing heroic things, like saving Serena."

He drew back and placed his hand on her cheek, "I should have been there when you woke."

"And how would you have known when I was to wake?"

"I should have been there every moment."

"No," she took his face in her hands, "Jed I want you to know more than anything else that when I was gone I wanted you to live, and I want you to keep living if something happens to me. I need you to keep living, for the both of us."

"Hey don't talk like that anymore, you're fine you're here and healthy and safe, it's all going to be okay now." He kissed her and held her tightly against his body.

"Jadeite, I know what Mnemosyne told you," she whispered. "She told you I was going to die."

"Yes," he closed his eyes, he wanted to deny it but she would know he was lying to her. "Yes, she said you would die and that I should cherish each of my moments with you."

"And we have cherished them haven't we my love, all our memories. Jed you know I love you with every part of my existence right?"

Jadeite nodded, "And I love you Rei."

She kissed him, "promise me that you'll always keep living even if I'm gone."

"Rei…"

"Promise me Jed, promise me that you'll watch over our family until your time comes."

"That's a large thing to ask Rei possibly centuries without you."

"I know, but I can't trust anyone else with this. Promise me?"

"Rei…"

"Promise me?"

Jadeite nodded, "Alright I promise."

She smiled then kissed him. "Thank you my love, I'm going to go find Lita. I'm sure there's tons of juicy gossip for me to catch up on."

Jadeite smiled and ran his fingers through her hair, "Alright I'll come find you soon as I'm done with all this."

"Don't rush my love, not on my account," she kissed him. She pulled away from him and then backed out of the room with a smile, "Besides I'll see you again."

As soon as she turned the corner she ran into Yaten. He was leaning against the wall on leg propped up behind him. "You're hiding things Princess."

Rei glared at him, "Don't concern yourself with my business."

"Well see if it has to do with that little Demon it's not just your business, it's mine too." He reached out and grabbed her arm, she looked down at his fingers around her arm and narrowed her eyes. Without so much as a moment to comprehend Yaten was thrown backwards down the hallway and slammed into the wall. She turned to him and in the blink of an eye was kneeling in front of him. "That's not your power," he said.

Rei smiled, "No it's someone else's I'm just borrowing it for right now."

"Who's?"

"Well that's for me to know and you to worry about," she said. "But don't worry too much little Demonti, it's not going to hurt you, mostly it'll help you."

"It's going to hurt my sister isn't it?" he asked glaring at her.

Rei's face fell to a frown, "Sometimes we get hurt when we lose people we love."

Yaten glared at her, "Just make sure you're not being used."

Rei stood and looked down at him "I'm not, believe me I know what I'm doing."

Yaten blinked and she was gone.

* * *

Astra paced around the room, "So you are telling me I live here with my husband, my sister-in-law, her husband, you, your husband, and our small council?"

"Yes, ever since the War ended we have all worked together to create strong bonds between the Romulen and Valcors," Ami explained. "We've become quite close."

"And my husband and I are the rulers of the Romulens and the Valcors. However, there is a council who rules in our stead because we don't want to?"

"Think of yourselves as the figure heads of our Coven. You do both have power but you rarely ever initiate an royal order, only in times of crisis."

"And you're telling me I have this huge family, this Coven is my family?"

"Yes, you also…" Ami paused again.

"Also what?" Astra turned to her.

"You had a daughter," Ami said. "But you lost her, after only a few days."

Astra sat down as the news hit her; she clenched her fingers on the arm of the chair. "You had a son….."

"I was going to have a son," Ami said sadly. "But he was taken from me as well."

Astra looked up, "By whom?"

"The Demon working for the human factions, she used black magic to kill him inside of me."

Astra's grip tightened on the chair, she heard it creak under the pressure. "That's terrible. I'm so sorry."

"Yes, it was a great loss."

"You must feel horrible, such horrible things," her grip tightened even more.

"It comes and goes, things pass and….."

Crack. The arm of the chair broke under Astra's grip. "Oh I'm so sorry." Astra stood holding the long piece of wood.

"It's alright we'll have…." But Ami wasn't able to finish her sentence, Astra swung the wood back and smacked Ami across the face with it knocking her unconscious.

* * *

Lita looked up as Rei entered the room, "What are you doing here?" she set aside her book. "You should be at the hospital being looked after and resting."

Rei came and sat down on the couch next to her. "I've had enough of hospitals thank you very much. Besides I feel better than ever, fit as a fiddle."

"Rei…"

"Lita, I'm fine. I'm better than fine, I have a purpose now and I know what I need to do."

Lita cocked an eyebrow at her, "And what is that?"

"Let's just say it's going to help us a lot, I'm not sure exactly what is going to happen, but it'll be for the best."

"I hate when you're cryptic," Lita said. "But I'm glad you're okay."

Rei smiled at her, "Hey remember a few years back when we used to hate each other?"

Lita let out a small laugh, "I thought you were such an egotistical, controlling bitch."

"And I thought you were absolutely useless, following Mina around like a little puppy," Rei leaned her head on her friends shoulder. "I know better now."

"Agreed, but I still think you're bitch," Lita said with a laugh.

Rei pulled away, her face fell a little. "You're going to do such great things Lita, you're going to have children one day and be a wonderful mother, you're going to be a great teacher." Rei's eyes shone with unshed tears.

"Well thank you."

"And I know it's a little trying now, and that you and Nephrite aren't having and easy time but," she blinked the tears back. "But he does love you, more than you know. Don't doubt that, even for a moment don't doubt that."

"Rei…what's going on?"

Rei wiped the tears from her face, "Nothing just feeling sentimental from you know….everything." She pulled Lita into a hug, "I will always be with you." Red pulled away from her friend and stood, "I'm going to go find something to eat I'm a little famished."

"Alright I'll see you later," Lita said picking up her book.

Rei paused at the door and looked back, "Yeah see you later." The smiled at Lita, then left.

Lita shook her head and picked up her book again, she had read a few sentences when she suddenly felt a chill. She remembered Hotaru's warning, 'Death, death walks through this house." The hair on her body stood up, she dropped the book from her hands and stood, "Rei," she said breathlessly. Something was wrong, she knew it , something was very wrong. "Rei!"

She ran from the room knocking into Nephrite as she ran past, "Lita!"

She sprinted down the hall, "Rei!" Turning the corner she saw Rei about to descend the stairs. "Rei!"

* * *

Astra kicked open the door and tripped over a man lying in the hallway.

"Damn it," he grunted sitting up and looked at her. "Serenity….."

Astra stared at him, she knew his face, Endymion. She scrambled away from him and began running down the hall.

"Serenity!"

Her feet pounded on the carpet, she veered left and turned a corner. Sprinting past unsuspecting people she didn't hesitate or pause as she knocked some down. She got to the end of the hallway and skidded to a halt. Standing on the grand staircase before her was a woman with black hair staring across the large open space to a brunette.

"Serenity!"

Astra turned around, Endymion came around the corner. She turned back to the staircase ready to bolt but was frozen in her tracks when she locked eyes with the woman with black hair.

Memories ran through her head at lightning speed. Their hate towards each other, their friendship, then their love as sisters, Rei's support when her daughter had died, times when they had fought side by side in battle together. "Rei," she whispered before she could stop herself.

Rei smiled at her, "Goodbye Serena."

Suddenly Rei's body jerked backwards as if she had been struck by something. Time slowed down as Astra watched Rei go limp in the air, her black hair flying around her, obscuring her face, arm's flying back behind her. Rei tipped backwards down the stairs falling out of the line of vision. Astra's mouth opened and she heard her own voice scream out Rei's name, another voice rang out in tandem with her own, then a scream from behind her.

She ran the few steps to the top of the staircase and looked down. Rei lay motionless at the bottom, flat on her back, her body limp, one arm slung out above her head, her dark hair fanned out behind her on the stone flood. She looked as if she was sleeping, but Astra knew better. She was dead, she had been dead before she hit the ground.

Endymion came up behind her staring down at his sister, "Rei!" He moved to go to her, but Astra's arm shot out and stopped him.

She turned towards him and looked into his eyes, she didn't know why but she knew she had to comfort him at that moment. Despite her logical mind telling her he was her enemy something inside of her made her place her hands on his face and whisper, "She's gone." She felt tears fall from her eyes, "Endymion, she's gone."

He swallowed then she saw his face crumple and he collapsed into her arms, pulling her tight against him. "Rei," he whispered.

Astra head the wailing, she turned and saw the brunette collapsed on the floor sobbing as she stared through the banister bars at the woman below. A man had come from the hallway behind her and dropped to his knees next to her, "Nephrite," Astra whispered.

She looked down a blonde man had run into the room, those who had gathered around had parted for him, he fell to his knees his hands hesitating over her fallen body. He finally touched her and then pulled her to his chest. "Jadeite."

Astra glanced around at the faces full of sadness, shock, and disbelief, they were all staring down at the fall Princess. All except one, Astra saw the little girl in the red dress standing a few feet behind Nephrite and his wife. She was staring directly at Astra her face sad and full of apology. It wasn't the demon, it was the other one. The girl looked down at the fallen Princess, Astra blinked and the girl disappeared.


	22. Chapter 21

Hello lovelies...enjoy that's all I'll say.

DMA

I do now own sailor moon.

* * *

Astra stared her toes, they were painted a dark blue and perfectly manicured. She couldn't remember when she had gotten them done. She held her hands out in front of her and looked at the lines crisscrossing her palms. They were familiar, yet unfamiliar to her. Her head began to throb again, she closed her eyes and began to rub her temples. The bedroom door creaked open, Astra looked up from her seat on the edge of the bed.

Cole stood in the doorway holding a steaming cup. "Ami said this should help with the headaches." He came towards her offering her the cup.

She took it, "Tell her thanks for me."

"I will," he said. He sat down in the chair across from her.

"And tell her I'm sorry, I smacked her in the pretty hard during my impromptu escape attempt."

Cole smirked slightly, "She'll have a bruise but it'll heal quickly enough."

"The advantage of being a Vampire I suppose," Astra said.

"It is one of our better characteristics." Cole gazed at her as she took small sips from the mug. She cringed at the bitter taste. "It's herbal doesn't mean that it's going to taste great." They sat in silence for a few more minutes, "Do you remember who I am Serena?"

She looked up at him, her mind rolling over the name he had called her. "I remember your face….your name is Cole. You're my cousin."

"Is that all you remember?"

She looked up at him, "I remember that we didn't like each other as children." Cole snorted. "I think you spiked my tea with ink when I was twelve."

"That was you brothers idea, he talked me into being the culprit though," Cole smiled. "Astrid was furious it turned your mouth blue for a week."

"Astrid?" she looked up at him.

Cole sat forward, "Do you remember her?"

She paused then shook her head, "No I don't, the name seems familiar though." She took another sip.

Cole sighed, "It wasn't that we didn't like each other, we liked to play pranks on each other. You and your friends once snuck into my room and glued all of my things down and cut holes in my clothes. We did things like that to antagonized each other."

She smiled, "We liked to fight a lot, you liked to pick on me even though you're several centuries older than I was…your maturity was lacking." She glanced up at him then away and took another sip from her cup.

"Do you remember your brother?"

"No…I think I have a few flashes of him but no memories. His name…..was….his name was….." She rubbed her forehead there was a pain in between her eyes again.

"His name was Sethaniel, he was your predecessor, your older brother. He took care of you."

"Did we…..did we get along?"

Cole smiled, "Yes, Sethaniel was more of a parent to you then your real parents were. Do you remember your father?" She shook her head, "Well he wouldn't have won any parental awards, he didn't want you to be Queen."

"Why?"

Cole sighed, "He was told prophecy that frightened him, and also I think he was afraid of losing you the way that he had lost your mother. He tried to protect you, in his own strange misguided ways, but your brother embraced the prophecy and made it his mission to turn you into the best Queen that he could."

"Did my brother abdicate?"

Cole frowned, "No he was killed. The throne passed to you after his death."

Astra took another sip from her cup. "I don't remember any of them, my father or my mother."

"Your mother died when you were very young and your father stayed away for most of your childhood you were left in the care of tutors, Sethaniel, Astrid and I cared and protected you."

She traced the rim of the cup as they again shared silence. "That girl who died, she was my sister-in-law, Rei?"

Cole nodded, "The sister of the King, she was also married to one of our Generals."

"The blonde man, I saw him," she said. "When I saw her I got flashes quick memories of us. Nothing real significant, feelings mostly…..and my heart aches." She rubbed at her chest, "Every time I think of her it pains me."

"You had grown close over the years."

"Do they know what caused her death?"

Cole shook his head, "Ami will do the autopsy soon then we'll have answers." He stood, "I'll bring you the findings when we have them if you'd like." She nodded and handed him the cup. He straightened his jacket and was at the door when she spoke.

"Where…where is Endymion?"

Cole looked at her over his shoulder, "He's taking care of Rei's body." Cole had opened the door before she spoke again.

"How is he?"

"Not good," he said as he left her.

Astra collapsed back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Her heart ached, but there was also a fire in her stomach, one that she didn't understand. It made her hot, her head hurt, and agitated. She wondered what it was.

* * *

Ami lay in bed staring at the canopy above her bed, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. She heard the door open and close, the bed sank with the weight of another person. "Ames?" Yaten whispered. She didn't answer him, "Ames?"

He waited for her answer, but she didn't respond to him. After a few moments he finally laid his head down on her stomach and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry Ames."

Ami wrapped her arms around his head, her tears never ceasing.

* * *

Hotaru sat on the floor staring down at the history book in front of her. It was a history of the Valcorian rulers. Her fingers traced the family tree that was sprawled out on two pages. She traced the roots to the branches stopping at Rei's name. She ran her fingers over the date of her birth.

Footsteps approached behind her; she knew it was Knox he had a distinct walk. He sat down behind her without speaking. "I told them death walked through this house," she said as she traced the ink on the page.

"A warning that I'm sure none understood."

"One that I didn't even understand myself, I thought it was an intruder, or that Serenity would harm someone accidentally in her attempt to escape."

Her fingers traced over the branch where Endymion's name was connected to Serenity's. Their child's name had been marked out already. "So much loss in this family."

"It's the price of who we are."

"We?"

"We'll we're all distant cousins in this war," he said her reached out tentatively and touched the ends of her dark hair.

"I never considered you my cousin, that would make our marriage even stranger."

Knox smirked, "Stranger than it is now?"

Hotaru looked over her shoulder at him, "Yes stranger than it is now." She looked back at the book lying in front of her.

"What will you do when this is all over?"

"It depends on how it all ends, if the humans win I supposed I'll spend the rest of my life running and hiding. If we win….well there more options attached to that outcome."

Knox was silent for a long while, "You could come with me."

Hotaru stiffened, "Where?"

"Anywhere the North, the South, islands, continents, the country, cities, anywhere you desire to see." He leaned forward and covered her hand his lips at her ear. "I'll take you anywhere."

"We used to talk of seeing the world together, of doing something with this longevity that we were granted," she gripped his fingers. "There are so many things that we could do."

"Make up for the time that was stolen from us."

"If I remember correctly you hated the idea of having to spend the rest of our lives together."

"That was at first, then I got to know you and I only regretted it a little," he said. He saw her smile and instantly felt a warmth in his chest. "I've missed you Hotaru."

She looked over her shoulder at him, "And I you." She leaned in towards him and he mirrored her actions when the door burst open behind them. Amara leaned against the frame panting, "Hotaru it's Michelle she's returned! She brings news from the Demonti."

* * *

Merula stared at Malachite's body. There were scars across his chest; a swirling tattoo above his hip in black ink, long thick black lines encased the crest of his family; his stomach and abs were perfectly toned; strong arms and legs; long healthy hair. She titled head and stared down at him, "A fine specimen."

"Don't you think that's a little inappropriate?" Taiki glared at her. He turned on the stool so that his back was to her.

She looked down, she was sitting on Malachite's thighs her feet dangling over the edge of the metal table swinging back and forth, her chin cradled by her hand. "No at all considering all the other inappropriate things I'd like to be doing to him," she said with a wicked smile.

Taiki stiffened "You're in a pleasant mood. Should I ask who you've been torturing?" He stood and walked over to the machine that was rhythmically beeping next to Malachite.

The Demon let out a laugh, "Oh no no no, nothing like that my dear sad little sodomite the other one has just been quiet for a long while and it's brightened my dark spirits. Now tell me something more entertaining because as fine as this Vampire is we both know I wouldn't enjoy any of the fun activities I want to enjoy whilst I am trapped in this body." She hopped down and leaned her elbows on the table watching Taiki. "Tell me about your escape plans."

Taiki glared at her and continued to check Malachite's levels. "Oh come now he's fine, been the same for months, whatever you are giving him it's working. Now tell me why are you going to run off with the red headed busty doctor when we all know all you want to do is snuggle with Kain for the rest of your life."

"That is none of your business," he snapped.

The slammed her hands down on the table, "Make it my business." Her eyes were pitch blank and she radiated angry dark energy. "Or I'll make it Seiya's business, and you and I both know what he does to traitors."

Taiki was silent for several long moments, "He's losing his mind, partially from your influence, partially from the loss of his family and the Vampire Queen. I've watched him slip deeper and deeper into madness over the years. I don't want to be around for the fallout."

"And Ashlee, why save her too?"

"She doesn't deserve his wrath, our marriage was arranged that doesn't mean I hate her, neither of us had a choice in the matter. I've come to care for her as a friend, I love her as I would love a sister, nothing more."

Merula let out a noise of disgust and turned from him, "You humans are so sentimental with all your stupid lovey dopey foolishness. In the end your lovers, friends, family, children, they'll all betray you to save their own skin. They'll all run right for the door when the going gets rough. Humans are worse than scum." She turned away from him. "I've watched humanity for thousands of years. It never changes. War, blood, betrayal, hate, sex, lies, birth, fear, shit. It's all the same just on repeat over and over again. The worst part about it is that you all still deny it, you pretend that you're all wonderful, that there's some great light inside of you that will end up saving you in the end. There isn't you're all just scared little monkeys, the only differences between your family and the families in the trees is that you learned how to use rocks first."

She turned back to him, "Humans, Vampires you're all the same and yet you've spent eternity trying to rip each other to pieces. It's pathetic, I remember when this world was full of fun things, when humans feared the night and hid in their caves hovering around their little camp fires praying for the wind to die so they wouldn't freeze in the darkness. So that mind kind wouldn't come creeping up and drag them into the darkness. Hells I can't wait till we can chase them back beneath the rocks."

"Is that your plan then, to chase humanity back into the caves?"

She shrugged apathetically, "Not like there is anything better to do."

"And the Vampires?"

Merula let out a laugh, "Vampires aren't anything more than amped up humans. You know that you all started out the same. Well almost the same, the first Vampire was born from a human. Long ago a man, don't remember his name its been too long, but anyways he lost his wife in childbirth his son survived. He was so desperate to ensure that his child lived in the harsh world that he went to an ancient practitioner. She told him it was impossible "You don't cheat death." But we demons, see we were already watching them, already toying with them, and one of us got the great idea in their head. What if we made a small group of them, stronger, faster, hungrier, made them live longer, hunt better? What if we changed the game?"

Taiki swallowed his eyes were fixed on her, fascinated by her story.

"Well one of us finally did it, not sure which one there were so many back then. He gave the man what he wanted, and then when his son was hungry he devoured his father and thus the first Vampire was born." She smiled at him darkly and licked her elongated fang.

"You're lying." Taiki and Merula both looked at Malachite. His blue eyes were staring up at the ceiling. "Vampires weren't made from demons."

"Oh really and what were they made from?"

"Sorcery, human sorcery," he choked.

"Peft a delusional Vampire." She turned and began to leave the room.

"That's what you told Seiya isn't it to make him hate us, that we were descendants of demons."

Merula stopped and looked over her shoulder, "He needed his tale of horror, so I gave him one." She began to giggle as she walked down the hallway, her voice echoing around them.

Taiki went over to Malachite and peered down at him over the top of his glasses. "Your metabolism is speeding up," he said.

Malachite said nothing but he locked eyes with Taiki for a moment, "You want to know the real story don't you?"

Taiki glanced towards the door then back to Malachite. "How were they created?"

"The Ancients were the first ones, they wanted to be immortal so they created a spell to allow them eternal life. But nature doesn't like to be played with, it doesn't like trickery so it fought back. They were given immortality but other things turned on them, the sun, silver, their appetites, their friends. It was the price of their actions. Their children, who they tried to give the same gift to, weren't as impervious. Long life was the Ancients gift to give but their children could be killed."

"And the ancients where are they now?"

Malachite glanced away, "Immortality became too much, most went mad and had to be put to sleep. Others grew tired and chose to sleep. All of them are underground now, desecrated but not dead." Taiki turned away from Malachite, "Do you still see us as monsters?"

He turned back to the other man, he was silent for several moments before speaking. "Serenity, when her memories were gone, she was different. She was kind and caring, but determined and strong. We were taught that it was the soul that was black that a Vampire no matter what was evil and would be evil despite everything. But…"

"But Serenity made you think differently," Malachite let out a small laugh. "She has that effect on people."

Taiki took a syringe out of a drawer from behind him. "As of late the only monsters I've seen have lived in this house, and they're not Vampires. So I don't know what to think anymore." He stuck the needled into the vein in Malachite's arm. "What I do know is that when this wears off, you won't be chained down anymore." Malachite locked eyes with Taiki again. "What you do with that will be your own decision, but I will be long gone. Goodbye Vampire I hope we don't meet again."

Malachite's eyes began to drop until they finally closed. Taiki threw away the syringe, unclasped the restrains holding Malachite down, then left the room without baring the door. As he walked up the steps he thought about the Demon's story as well as Malachite's. He didn't really care about the Vampires anymore, from the research he had seen they weren't as evil as Seiya's family of radicalists had insisted. Malachite hadn't been half bad, and Serenity wasn't as evil as he had believed, maybe they weren't so different from humans.

He shook his head as he opened the door to the foyer, a man passed by him and gave him a curt nod. He returned it. He saw Ashlee waiting by the door, a simple black travel bag at her feet. She had on her coat, the collar drew up high to hide the nasty bruises on her face. Without hesitation Taiki walked across the foyer and picked up her bag. She looked into his eyes waiting for a confirmation. He nodded then she turned towards the door. He followed her out without a second glance behind them.

"Do you think that we'll be hunted when he realizes we've left?" She asked.

"No he has more pressing matters to attend to, by the time he realizes we are gone it won't even matter anymore."

She opened the passenger side of his small foreign car, "And what about the cause?"

Taiki walked around to the driver's side. He looked up at the mansion behind them and hesitated for only a moment. He inhaled deeply, "Fuck the cause. I'm tired of living my life according to them. Let's find somewhere we can figure ourselves out."

"And the Vampires?"

"Who gives a damn," he said glanced around at the men walking across the grounds. "Besides they aren't the only monsters in the world." He climbed into the car with her. They shut their doors and the drove away from the mansion and it's inhabitants.

* * *

Jadeite stared down at his wife's motionless body. She was laid out on the chrome table illuminated by the overhead light, the room around them was dark. Rei's jacket, jewelry, and make up had been removed. She looked like she was sleeping, as if at any moment she would open her eyes and look up at him with a smile. His hands itched to reach out and stroke her face, but he restrained himself and kept them securely at his sides.

"Do we have a cause of death yet?"

Jadeite looked up at Darien, who stood across the table, his face turned away from Rei.

Ami stepped into the light, her face was worn and her eyes tinged red. "No, I haven't been able to do the autopsy yet."

"Could it have been from her surgery?"

Ami shook her head, "I don't think so, but I can't make an official ruling until I complete all the tests."

"When can you do it?"

Ami glanced at Jadeite then back to Darien, "Within the hour. We should have all results and tests completed a few hours after. Jadeite I will get you answers, I swear it." She reached out to take his hand but he pulled away from her and vacated the room. The pair watched him leave, finally Ami broke the silence. "I can't imagine the pain he's feeling right now."

"I can."

Ami looked up at Darien, he was staring down at Rei's body. His was face emotionless and cold, but she could tell he was holding back his anger. "Endymion…."

"When you've finished bring the results to Councils meeting room, we'll hear everything together." Then he too left Ami alone.

She waited until his footfalls had faded, then collapsed onto the stool next to the table and looked down at Rei's face. She closed her eyes and fought back the tears that were gathering. "Rei…."

* * *

Astra sat on the bed, her back against the wall, she had been staring out of the window across from her bed for a while. She had tried to meditate but she couldn't concentrate. There was something that was calling to her, something in the back of her mind trying to get her attention. She jumped out of bed and went into the bathroom. Splashing cold water on her face she tried to ignore the feeling, but it was getting stronger. Something needed her.

She went to the bedroom door, letting her feet lead her. Stepping into the hallway she saw that it was deserted, she couldn't even hear people. There were numerous doors, she knew that they were bedrooms. As she walked down the hall she began to remember, this was a special wing of the house. This was where the King and Queen lived, the Generals, the Princess and her husband, and where her daughter's room was. She stopped outside of one door, looking at it made her heart hurt even more.

Her daughter's room, this had been her daughter's room. She placed a hand on the door and hesitated, she wanted to go inside, but she couldn't the feeling was pulling her down the hall. She continued on. The pain in her head was lessening as she walked, she wondered if the thing calling her was causing the headaches. Finally she came to the last door in the hall, she opened it without knocking. It was a study, Endymion's study. She inhaled and recognized his smell, the lights were dimmed and the curtains were drawn, but the place had a comforting feeling. She entered and closed the door behind her. She went to the middle of the room and closed her eyes, this room was familiar.

_'Let me feel.' He reached out and placed his hand on her round stomach. 'She kicked me!'_

_'She does that.'_

She looked at the couch, she remembered sitting there with Endymion as they felt their daughter.

_'A name?'_

_'Astrid?'_

_She shook her head, 'No, too much history.'_

_'Madea?'_

_'Her story didn't end well my love.'_

_'Serenity?'_

_'Another Serenity?'_

_He smiled, 'I wouldn't mind.'_

Astra touched her head, another memory was coming to her. One that wasn't as happy.

_'You cannot expect the Romulens to all bow to you just because we signed a piece of paper my love, it will take time!'_

_He slammed his fist down on his desk, 'I am their King it was sworn upon, I am your husband! You will order them to show me respect or I will….'_

_'You will what?' she challenged him. 'Execute them? Torture them? Scare them? Those aren't ways to make them love you.'_

_'I don't give a damn if they don't love me they will respect me!'_

_'Love is more powerful then respect Darien.'_

"Darien…" she muttered.

"Yes."

She turned and saw him sitting on the ground a bottle of whisky in his hand. His dark clothes had helped to conceal him in the shadows. "I was just…."

"You called my name."

"A memory," she said. "I think it was of us. Fighting."

He let out a small laugh, "We fought many times in this room." He brought the bottle to his lips and tipped it up. "What are you doing here? I don't think it was to see me."

"I was following something…."

"Following something?"

"A feeling, it told me that I needed to be here."

"Here?" He stared at the bottle, "there's nothing here." She stayed silent, "There will be nothing anywhere soon enough. This house is full of death."

"You're drunk," she said.

"It seems to be my permanent state now," he said smiling. "But why not? My sister is dead, my people are being killed, my child….." his voice faltered. He covered his eyes with his hand, then cleared his throat and continued. "My friends think I'm losing control, and my wife doesn't remember me, hates me even."

"I don't hate you," she blurted out without thinking.

He looked up at her, then she blinked and he was standing in front of her. She jumped back but he clutched her arms and held her in place. They were inches from each other his dark eyes staring into her light ones. She wanted to wrench herself from his grasp and slap him. Her conscious screamed at her, 'Kill him, he's a murdered! He killed your family!' But another part of her wanted to take him into her arms and comfort him.

"Do you remember?" he whispered.

She took a few shaky breaths, "Some things a few flashes but they're all confusing, all mixed up with the other memories. Part of me wants to kill you."

He let out a small laugh and released her, collapsing on the couch he said, "Well that's not far from how you felt when we first met, I suppose it's fitting that we're back to it."

"What do you mean?" She stared down at him.

"You tried to kill me the first time we met," he said. "You were trying to kill most of the people in this house."

"The Vampire War," she said sitting down on the couch across from him. "I read about it in my…." She paused mentioning the word fiancée when talking about Seiya made her feel sick. "When I was with the humans."

"You don't remember it?"

She shook her head.

"None of it?"

Again she shook her head.

"You're lucky then, I wish I could forget the things I did," the bottle was back in his hand and this time he upended it.

"Why? You're the Vampire King feared by all, your reputation is what made you, why would you want to forget that?"

He looked at her, "The man that I was when we met, for the first time, no one really liked that man. He was emotionless, he was terrible arrogant bastard."

"And he's changed?"

"He had until…."

"Until?"

He looked at her, "Until he lost his other half." She felt a twinge in her heart. "You see when a person loses their other half there's nothing there but darkness. It's like a hole that gets bigger and bigger until it consumes them. Makes them dark all over again, and sometimes we can't come back from it."

She stared at him, she could tell even without her memories that he had had a long life and had known his share of pain. "Has if consumed you?"

He took the bottle from his lips, "This time it may have."

They sat in heavy silence for several moments before he spoke again. "You tried to stab me."

"When?"

"When we first met, and your father electrocuted me."

She leaned back, "Tell me about it."

* * *

Hotaru's hands began to shake violently and she felt a sudden chill spread through her body.

"What's wrong?" asked Michelle. She had been in the middle of telling her and Amara what she had learned in her time away.

Hotaru suddenly couldn't breathe, she stood gasping for breath. "Something…." She gasped. "Something's coming!" Her knees gave way and she fell to the ground.

"What's coming what's happening?" asked Amara, who was now kneeling next to the shaking girl.

There was a sudden clattering of dishes. Amara and Hotaru looked up, Trista too was on her knees gasping for air and clutching her chest. "There's….it's too much," she cried. "Not…..good."

"Hotaru what's happening?"

"She's leaving."

* * *

A piercing howl echoed through the house startling Seiya from his chair. It was the demon. He wretched opened the door to see several terrified faces looking back at him.

A young red haired woman stood before him, "Sir….the girl…she's…."

He pushed her out of his way and followed the screams to the foyer. He stopped at the top of the steps and watched.

The brown haired demon child was clawing at her body, ripping her hair out, and spitting up blood. She slammed a fist against the floor cracking the stone. "Damn her….." the demon screamed. "Damn them all!" She howled again in pain. Then suddenly a bright light surrounded her an a voice echoed in his mind.

'You shall not win this. You shall not succeed.'

Then another darker voice spoke, 'Trickster girl. Tricky witch. Still it won't work.'

The light grew brighter and the voices began to argue with each other in different languages, switching ever few phrases. The light grew more and more, then a vibrating sound in his ears making his eardrums hurt.

Seiya yelled out for the demon to stop, but his voice was mute. The light grew brighter and brighter. He closed his eyes, but he could still see it. He felt heat on his face burning his nose. Then suddenly and explosion knocked him backwards and the light was gone.

* * *

Ami's assistant helped her into her scrub gown, then she helped her with her gloves. They were about to perform the autopsy. She had no hypothesis about what could have killed Rei. The surgery had gone fine, she had reviewed the files, even her post-op check up's had been normal. There was no indication that her death was related to the surgery. She that meant that something else had happened, she didn't know but by the time she was finished she would have an explanation for Jadeite and Endymion.

"If you're ready I am," said Knox. She looked over at him covered like she was. He had volunteered to help, she hadn't wanted him at first but had rationalized that his Demonti knowledge could come in handy.

"I am, Vanessa." Her assistant nodded then turned and led Knox into the autopsy room so they could begin.

Ami picked up her tray of tools but waited a moment and tried to mentally prepare herself. She was about to cut into the body of a friend, a dear friend. Someone who she loved and cared about, she hated doing, she didn't want to see Rei's chest cut open, her ribs broken, her heart removed. It was painful enough to know that she would never….

Vanessa's scream cut through her thoughts. Ami rushed forward into the autopsy room.

"What is it?" Vanessa was staring wide eyed at the autopsy table.

Ami followed her gaze. Her tools fell from her hands and clattered to the floor.

The table was empty.

* * *

Astra closed the door behind her. She and Darien had talked for the past hour, it had been enlightening. He had told her about their first meeting, then their second, what he knew about her brother, and his interactions with her father. It had been a good talk. Several times she had found she had to force away the impulse to break a chair leg off and stab him through the chest, but she had been able to control herself. She had noticed that he was right however, he was filled with darkness, he missed his wife and now with the death of his sister she could see he was slipping further and further into an abyss.

She opened her door and instantly knew something was wrong. The lights were all out and the room was cold. She flipped the switch on and saw nothing out of the ordinary. It was all the same as she had left it only an hour ago, but she still felt uneasy.

She stepped inside and closed the door. The windows were locked, the bed hadn't been touched, her pillow was still lying on the floor. But something was off, something was making her uneasy. She made up her mind she didn't want to be in the room anymore. She turned towards the door and stopped dead in her tracks her mouth falling open.

"Hello Serena," standing in front of her was Rei. She stood between Astra and the door.

"Impossible," she stuttered.

Rei smiled, "No, nothing is impossible."

"I saw you die."

Rei rolled her head, "Yeah it's a little complicated, but after it's all over I'll explain everything to you."

"After what's all over?" Astra asked taking a step back.

"You're transition."

Before Astra could gasp she blinked and Rei was in front of her. Rei grabbed her head and titled her neck to the side. There was a pain in her neck, Rei had stuck an ancient looking syringe into her neck. She watched as the liquid inside was pushed into her veins. Rei pulled the needle from her neck and threw it onto the bed. "Sorry, that'll sting." Astra was about to push her away, but Rei titled her head to the other side then sunk her long fangs into Astra's skin.

* * *

Hehehe...hope you liked it...Review for me loves it makes me want to write more.


End file.
